Solstice: After Breaking Dawn
by myhorsiegirl22
Summary: This is my version of what happens after Breaking Dawn. Nessie wants to be with Jacob, but she has to wait, to follow her parent's rules. But will she break them along the way? Mainly about Jacob and Renesmee. Please R&R!
1. Riding Through the Forest

Solstice  
After Breaking Dawn

Chapter 1: Riding Through The Forest

Renesmee Cullen's POV:

I shrieked in pleasure, riding atop my Jacob's shoulders. My momma, daddy, and Jakey were in the clearing a mile or so from my parent's cottage. I heard my momma sigh.

"Jake, please don't drop my daughter, I'm begging you," Momma said to Jake dissaprovingly.

Jake, unphased by my momma's exasperation, laughed and said, "Don't worry, Bella. I think if there was even a chance that I would drop her, and that is barely a possibility, anyway, I would be more mad at myself than you would be at me. Trust me."

Jacob had started to slow down as he and Momma bickered. His speed was not enough. "Faster, Jakey! Run faster!" I ordered.

Jake pushed his legs faster. "Yes, Ma'am."

While Jakey and I were running, I heard my daddy whisper to my mommy, "You know, as annoying as he can be sometimes, it is very entertaining to watch when he's acting as a nanny..."

Momma laughed. "Yes, yes it is."

Pretending like I couldn't hear them, I asked innocently, "What's so funny, Momma?"

My momma smiled and answered, "Nothing, Sweetheart."

My daddy, of course, knew that I knew about their little exchange. And I would defend Jakey any way I could, so I decided to save his pride...for now, anyway. "Alright. Down, Jakey."

Jake, always acting as a gentlemen, said, "As you wish, Ma'am," and set me down.

"Nessie, are you hungry for lunch yet?" my daddy asked me.

"Well, if she isn't, I am. I've been running since I got up this morning." I swear, Jake was always hungry. Ugh. Werewolf appitites.

My daddy rolled his eyes. "Yes, Jacob. We are aware that you are always hungry," then he smiled jokingly at him.

I smiled. "Yes, Daddy. I'm hungry. What's for lunch?"

"Whatever you want," Mommy replied.

Lunch was great. Momma cooked it, and, since she was recently human, she knew how to cook. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I only ate half of my lunch while Jake asked for thirds.

My momma's eyes were wide as she stared at the amount of food on Jake's plate, which he was still devouring. "Holy crap, Jake. I used to have a weeks worth of food in the kitchen..." my momma stated, still in disbelief. You'd think after knowing Jake for years, my mom would be used to the amount of food he consumes.

Jacob replied with his mouth full of food, "Hey, I'm a growing werewolf," he grinned at her.

"How can you still be growing?" my momma exclaimed.

Jake laughed. "It's a wolf thing."

That reminded me. "Jakey! Up, run! Wolf!" I put my palm to his cheek and showed him a couple images of him in his wolf form with me on his back, running through the forest, the jade green trees rushing past us in a blur.

My momma tried to hold back a slight chuckle. "Here comes Nanny Jake."

I sighed. I didn't like it when they teased my Jacob. But hey, the boy couldn't keep his pride forever.

Jacob glared at my momma and stuffed the last of his food in his mouth, swallowed, and said to me, "Alright, kid. I'll be right back." Then he rushed through the front door, into the cover of the trees. Jacob dissapeared, coming back as a huge, russet wolf. The wolf that I loved.

"Yea! Daddy, help me up, please!" I clapped my hands with joy as my daddy lifted me up and set me between Jacob's shoulder blades, which I fit perfectly between.

I felt the rush of joy as Jake started running, his giant paws hitting the forest floor at a steady, even pace. The evergreen trees of the forest rushed past us, leaving the joy I always felt as I rode on Jacob's back in its place.

Even though Jake was running faster than I could run, I still wanted him to go even faster. So, through the wind ringing through our ears, I yelled, "Faster, Jakey! Faster!"

Jacob barked his wolfy laugh and pushed his legs, if possible, even faster. Faster than I have ever gone before. The trees were flying by so fast that even my half-vampire eyes couldn't distinguish tree from tree.

Jake all of the sudden looked distracted, though he still dodged the trees and their branches effortlessly. I put my palm to his face and asked 'Are you having a wolf conversation?'

Jakey barked another laugh and nodded his big wolf head yes. I kept my palm on his face and asked 'Can I listen?'

I may technically be only two years old, but I looked like I was six and I had the brain capacity of a twelve-year-old. In the two years of my life, I've learned to do a lot with my power. Since I was born, I'd had the power to project my thoughts, feelings, and images I think of to other people. I used to do this only by touching the person's face. But, over the last year and a half, Momma and Kate have been working on me to project it to people without touching them. I touched the person's face now just because it has become a habit. Daddy also helped me develop something like a reverse-projection. It was like my daddy's power, only one person at a time. This is what I was asking Jake for permission to do now.

Jake nodded his giant wolf head again, and I focused on reversing my power, and Jacob helped me by opening his mind to me.

_Be careful with what you say,_ I heard Jakey say mentally.

Then I heard a fairly familiar voice. Quil. He chuckled a wolf chuckle. _You with Nessie?_

_Yep. You with Claire?_ Jake answered Quil. Then I remebered the girl that Quil was always around when Jake took me to La Push. She was technically older than me, but I looked a couple years older than her.

Quil smiled a wolfy grin. _Yep._

_How is she?_

_Good. A little demanding of speed, but...I can take it._ Huh. I wondered how fast they were going. I doubt as fast as Jake and I are. Claire is only human, after all. How much speed could a four-and-a-half year old human girl take?

Jacob agreed with him. _Yea, Nessie, too. But it's worth it._ I smiled in pleasure, knowing that Jake would do most anything I asked. I knew I was special to him, but I didn't know why. I'd asked him once, and he said that he would tell me when I was older. He did this under my daddy's glare, of course, or else he probably would have told me.

_Yea, it is worth it. Claire wants to go to the beach now, so I'll see-or talk-to you later. See ya, Jake. See ya, Nessie._ I heard a faint shimmering sound far off in the distance as Quil phased back to human.

"Faster!" I said as I pulled myself out of Jake's head. Jacob barked another of his wolfy laughs.

I continued to ride on his back for another hour or so, but I could tell that he was getting a little worn out, so I asked him to take me back home.

Jacob stopped immidiately, claws digging in the dirt, and ran, a little slower than his full speed, back home.

When we got to the little clearing in front my house, Jacob sank to the ground, a sign for me to get off of his back. I slid down his side. Then he got up and trotted into the cover of the trees and phased to human. I didn't get why he did this, but he wouldn't tell me that either. Once again, mostly because of my daddy, but I didn't get why it was big deal. When I asked this, however, Uncle Emmett burst into laughter, so I figured that it was better that I didn't know.

Once Jakey came out from the trees, he opened the door for me and I stepped into the cottage. Immediatley, I was met by the warm-or rather cold-embraces of my momma and daddy.

I noticed my Aunt Alice sitting on the couch. I smiled at her. Aunt Alice smiled back and then sighed in somewhat relief. "Finally you two are back! Now we can go!" Aunt Alice exclaimed gleefully.

"Really, Alice?" Momma complained.

"Yes, really, Bella." Aunt Alice said, still cheerful.

"Would you like to join us, Jake?" my momma smiled brilliantly at Jakey.

Jacob answered her hesitantly. "Um...do I want to?"

My momma smiled at him again. "Nessie's going..." I was? I had no idea where we were going. But, knowing my aunt Alice's favorite hobby, and figured that shopping was one thing that would cause Aunt Alice to get a negitive reaction from my momma, I figured we were going shopping. Jakey would be thrilled. Ha. Yeah, right. But, if I had to suffer one of Aunt Alice's shopping trips, Jakey would come with us.

"So that would be a no, I wouldn't want to go." Jacob answered her. I gave him my best puppy-dog face, knowing he couldn't resist. He sighed. "Alright."

Aunt Alice smiled, knowing Jakey would have a horrible time, probably. "Alright, Jake, Bella, Nessie, let's go. Jake, bring Ness to the car, please. She can ride in your lap." Aunt Alice dashed out of the door and to the garage with my mommy close behind. Jacob pulled me into his arms and I went willingly. I knew Jakey had more right to be tired than me, but I was really tired. Riding through the woods on a giant wolf takes a lot out of you.

While Jake carried me through the door, I heard my daddy call, "Jake, you might want to put a shirt on."

"Oh yeah." Jacob said. Before Jacob could move to get his shirt, my daddy was holding one in front of him. "Thanks."

"No problem," Daddy smirked at Jacob. "Have fun."

"Gee, thanks," Jakey rolled his eyes.

"Bye bye, Daddy!" I wrapped my arms around Daddy's neck. "I love you!"

Daddy wrapped his arms around me, hugging me back. "I love you, too, Honey. I'll see you when you get back."

My aunt Alice appeared in the doorway. "Come on, we don't have all day!" she yelled impatiently.

"Okay. Where are we going?" Jacob asked. I was really surprised he didn't see this coming.

"I'll tell you in a minute. Go get in the car, Jake."

Jacob carried me out the door and climbed in the backseat, which was barely big enough for him. We were riding in Daddy's silver Volvo. "Okay, you being mysterious and secrative always scares me..." Jacob told Aunt Alice suspiciously.

Alice laughed her trilling laugh and started the car.

"Now tell me where we're going," Jacob demanded.

"Jake, your Alpha voice doesn't work on me."

"Im aware of that! Just tell me!" Jacob yelled.

"Say please..." Aunt Alice told him.

Jacob tried to calm down. "Please tell me where we're going, Alice."

Aunt Alice beamed and said excitedly, "Shopping!"


	2. Shopping

**A/N: I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephanie Meyer. Just thought I would clear that up. : D**

Chapter 2: Shopping

Renesmee Cullen's POV

Momma groaned. "Shopping... I'm sorry, Jake."

Jacob groaned, too. "Really, Alice? Are you trying to make me go completely insane?" I could tell Jacob was getting angry.

Aunt Alice tried to calm him down, without much effect. "Oh, come on, Jake. It won't be that bad. You'll be with Nessie the whole time..." she smiled at him. Then she looked at me, and I could see her silent plea for help.

So, in an attempt to calm Jacob down and help Aunt Alice, I crawled into Jake's lap and put on my best puppy dog face. "Jakey, it won't be horrible, like you probably think it will be. It will be fun!"

Despite my efforts, Jacob still wasn't that calm. "Um...fun is way too much of an overstatement. I was thinking more like dreadful, terrifying, maddening..." he went on with his list.

I knew I was in trouble when my best puppy dog face had little effect. I sighed. "Jakey, please be happy." Then, as a last resort, I smiled angelically at him.

I could see Jacob internally fighting with himself. He sighed. "Alright. But I hope you know that if you weren't here, I would've jumped out by now." Then he smiled at me. I knew he was only half joking, which bothered me.

Ignoring my worry, I said smugly, "I know."

My momma, aunt Alice, and Jacob all laughed at that.

Jacob, who had finally stopped his laughter, said, "You're so humble, Ness."

This just made them all laugh harder.

"And Alice, you better not be taking us to Paris or something." Jacob warned her.

Aunt Alice just laughed. Momma rolled her eyes.

After a few minutes, I asked Aunt Alice to turn on the radio; there was a very awkward silence in the car. Alice turned on the radio, and she immediately recognized the song and started singing along.

After about two more hours, we arrived at the mall in Seattle. It was a cloudy day, so Momma and Aunt Alice didn't have to worry about non-intended sparkling.

We walked through the white-rimmed glass doors and stares met us immediately. Momma groaned. "Not again."

"As long as you, Nessie, and I are beautiful and Jacob is huge, we're bound to get stares everywhere we go." Aice told us. I knew my momma and my aunt were beautiful, and even Jake, but me? I didn't realize my palm was on Jacob's face until he looked at me disapprovingly. In my head, I was comparing the beautiful faces of my family and Jakey's pack to my normal face. Even the tone of our skins were different. My family's skin was pale and radiant. Jacob and his packs' skin was tan and beautiful. But my skin was like any other humans. Crème and average. I was anything but average. I was one of the very rare vampire-human hybrids walking the Earth. Even Nahuel, another vampire-human I'd met about a year and a half ago, was prettier than me. He had coffee-colored skin. I was so...normal.

Jacob was still looking at me like he was disappointed in me. "Renesmee, you are beautiful. More so than anyone else in the world."

I shook my head. "No, I'm not." I was trying to hold back tears. "I'm a freak."

Aunt Alice came to Jacob's rescue. "Sweetheart, you are not a freak! Not even close. You are perfect." I shook my head.

Momma then stepped in. I was starting to regret thinking anything. "Yes, you are. Don't let anyone tell you differently. We all love you, my sweet, sweet girl." Momma kissed my forehead.

I sighed. "Alright. And I didn't really mean to share any of that."

"That's alright, Nessie. Now come on. Let's go shopping!" Aunt Alice, thankfully, took the attention from me. She lead us all to a designer boutique. She spent an hour and a half there, making Jakey hold all of the clothes that she picked out. I think she did that just to torture him. Poor Jakey.

When we finally left the boutique, Alice had her arms full of shopping and garment bags. She made Jacob hold some of the bags, too.

"Oh no, the mall's going to close in an hour and we haven't gotten anything for Nessie or Jake..." Aunt Alice frowned and then perked up again. "Alright. We'll go to The Children's Place first, and then we'll visit the pet shop."

Momma and Aunt Alice started dying laughing, but I was far from humored. Jacob was, too. "Aunt Alice, that wasn't very nice. Apologize."

Aunt Alice sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry, Jacob."

Jacob took a deep breath. "That's okay, Alice. I don't need anything, anyway."

"Well, if you're sure... Come on, Nessie, we've got to find you some new clothes!"

My aunt Alice sped ahead, barely containing a human speed, and entered The Children's Place. I honestly didn't need any new clothes, but I suppose, due to all of my growth spurts, it wouldn't hurt to buy bigger ones.

After Aunt Alice had shopped some of her unbeating heart out, we finally went back home. I'm sure Aunt Alice would shop the rest of her life, if she was allowed to.

When we got back to my house, Jacob walked in, collapsed on the couch, and flung his arm over his face.

I saw my daddy and I leaped into his arms. "Hello my sweet, sweet Nessie." he greeted me and kissed the top of my head. "Hey, Jake! How was your shopping trip?" he asked with false enthusiasm.

Jacob uncovered one eye and muttered, "Shut the hell up."

Daddy laughed. "Language, Jake."

Momma then entered the conversation. "Actually, for Alice, it was a very short trip."

Jacob shot off the couch in disbelief. "SHORT? You'd call that SHORT?" he shouted, eyes wide.

Daddy chuckled. "For Alice, any shopping trip that lasts less than 9 hours is short. Believe me. I would know..."

I then dropped out of my father's arms and hopped up on the couch and sat next to Jakey. I patted his chest and said knowingly, "You have a lot to learn, Jakey." Everybody in the room laughed at that. Deciding to distract attention from Jacob, knowing that someone would try and bug him if I let them keep laughing, I asked, "Hey, Daddy, do you want to see my new clothes?" I smiled up at him.

Daddy stopped laughing. "Of course, Sweetheart."

I showed him the outfits that Aunt Alice picked out for me. My favorite outfit was a turquoise shirt with frills on the bottom with two big, sparkly flowers in the middle, matched with denim capris. Daddy liked this outfit, too. After I showed off my new clothes and ate dinner, Jacob had to leave.

"I'll be back tomorrow, I promise," he told me. Then he pulled me into his arms for our parting hug. I pouted every time he left. I should be used to it by now, but nope, I'm not.

"Alright. Bye bye, Jakey." My daddy had pry me away from Jake.

After Jacob left, I was told to go bed. I went willingly. I was exhausted.

That night I remember dreaming of riding a giant, russet wolf through the woods. Only they weren't the woods I was used to. It was more tropical, some place more like a rain forest. It was a wonderful dream.

I woke up with a smile painted across my face.

**A/N: Thank you so much if you reviewed or favorited (is that even a word? oh well. C=) my story! You're awesome!** **I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. I'll probably post a chapter each day, unless I get too behind... THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO READS THIS! :D**


	3. Condition

**A/N: I skipped ahead a few years; I hope that doesn't upset anyone! Cuz then I'll be sad. :( lol! And there were some typos in the last chapter; sorry! I reread it before I posted it and I must have missed it. So if there are any typos in this chapter, I'm really sorry, and if there are please tell me! (But I did reread this chapter many times, so I don't think there are any typos in this) Thank you for reading! :D **

Chapter 3: Condition

(4 years later)

Renesmee Cullen's POV

I woke up to the scent of chocolate chip pancakes wafting in the air. Either Aunt Alice had a vision that I would soon wake, or Jake was here. I sniffed the air, trying to determine which situation it was. I detected a woodsy scent, like pine trees, mixed with the smell of the ocean. Yep. Jake was here.

I shot out of bed and quickly got dressed into an old pair of designer jeans and a peace patterned T-shirt. It was a wonder Aunt Alice didn't throw them out yet; I've worn them many more times than once. After I was dressed, I went into the kitchen. My mom, dad, and Jake were sitting around the island in the middle of the room.

"Hey, Ness!" Jake greeted when he saw me, a smile spreading across his face.

I grinned. "Hey, Jake!" He met me in a bone-crushing bear hug. Or, at least it would have been bone-crushing to a human, but it had hardly any affect on me. I hugged him back.

"Good morning, Sweetheart," my dad welcomed from behind the kitchen counter.

"Good morning, Daddy," I smiled as I was released from Jake's hug and ran into the frigid arms of my father.

"Morning Nessie. I made you and Jake some pancakes," my mom told me from behind the counter.

I let go of my dad and hugged my mom. "Good morning, Momma. And thank you for breakfast," I smiled.

I stepped out of my mom's embrace and sat in the chair next to Jake at the kitchen table.

Jake looked over at me and said, eyes wide, "Holy crap, Ness. You look, like, two and a half inches taller than yesterday," he stated in disbelief.

Dad studied me and agreed, "Wow. You do. You've never grown that much before. You're a little bit taller than your mom, now."

Mom stuttered, "Wh-what? She c-can't be taller than me!"

I was still in shock. How could I have got even taller than I already was?

My dad heard the question in my mind. "Nessie, you turned six several months ago, so this was probably the end of your growing. Even though you look like a teenager..." he was still in denial about that, but I didn't know why it was such a big deal. He knew I was going to be almost fully grown when I turned six years old.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I agreed with him. Then I sighed. I hated half-vampire growth spurts.

Aunt Alice dashed into the cottage and stopped right beside my dad.

"Edward, we need to get the documents from J. Jenks so you, me, Bella, Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett can go to school next week," Aunt Alice told him.

"Um, Aunt Alice, you didn't say my name..." I looked hopefully at my father's face from under my long eyelashes.

I heard my dad mumble, "Thanks a lot, Alice."

Aunt Alice mouthed, "Sorry."

"Renesmee, we've already been over this. No," his voice rang with finality.

Uh-oh. He used my full name. That's never good. I glanced at my mom for help, but didn't find any. She always agreed with my dad. Thankfully, I wasn't alone. Jacob came to my rescue. He always did.

Jake looked up from his plate full of chocolate chip pancakes and argued, "Come on, Edward. She looks like she's in high school already. Everyone else is going, and she really wants to go. She's probably the only one of you that does. So you shouldn't deny her the opportunity," he defended me.

My dad, always stubborn, still disagreed. But he was more hesitant this time, anyway.

"Daddy, can I please, please, please, please, _please_ go to school with you?" I begged. I put on my puppy dog face and put as much six-year-old into those words as possible. But when you look like a fully grown teenager, it was pretty damn hard.

Daddy hesitated a little longer this time, and when his voice left his mouth, it had a hint of uncertainty. "No, Renesmee," he didn't look into my eyes.

"Why not?" I demanded, shooting out of my seat and gripping the counter.

"I'm done discussing this with you, Renesmee," he said. Then he flew out the door and disappeared into the woods. Mom sighed and ran after him into the cluster of jade green trees.

I sighed and tried to hold back tears. I couldn't stand it when he was angry at me.

Aunt Alice suddenly stood beside me and wrapped me in her cold arms. "Shhh," she said as she pulled my head into her chest. "It's alright, Sweetheart. He's not mad at you personally. And don't worry, I see you going to school with the rest of us. And...never mind."

"What never mind?" I asked suspiciously, moving so I could look her in the eye.

"Never mind, Sweetheart. You'll find out in...six minutes and forty two seconds. But there's no need to worry," she assured, and released me from her freezing arms.

"Alright, if you say so. And thank you, Aunt Alice," I hugged her. I was still curious about what she saw, but I decided not to push it. "Should I go and find my parents?"

"No need, Hon. They'll be back in approximately five minutes."

Sure enough, five minutes later, my parents were back. My dad was still a little agitated, but most of his anger was, for the most part, gone.

"Alright, Renesmee. You can go to school with the rest of us," he stated reluctantly.

"Oh my gosh, really? You guys are the best!" I exclaimed. I ran to them and embraced them tightly.

"On one condition," my father proceeded. I stopped hugging them. Stupid conditions.

"What condition?" I asked, and put my hands on my hips.

"I know you'll probably like this condition, but somebody else might not."

"Okay, what's the condition?" I was getting impatient.

My father continued. "The condition is that, since Jacob wants you to go to school so bad, he gets to go to school with the rest of us."

This condition actually did make me quite happy. But Jake, however, was a different story.

"But I've already been through school!" he said. He wasn't mad, exactly, just exasperated.

"Well, I've been through high school many more times than once, but I'm still going!" my dad yelled.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to go. If that's the only way Nessie can go to school, then I'll go, too."

I smiled brightly at Jake. "Thank you so much, Jake!" I threw my arms around him and hugged him. Out if the corner of my eye, I saw my dad's expression. A brief flash of...pain? It didn't make any sense. But, before I could study it further, it disappeared. After a few more moments, I let go of Jake and went and wrapped my arms around my dad's neck. "Thank you, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you, too, Sweetheart," he said, hugging me back.

Aunt Alice had a smile painted across her face. "Yea! Nessie's going to school with us! That means we have to go shopping for school clothes..." Her smile grew, if possible, bigger.

Since I didn't want to deny Aunt Alice the opportunity to shop, I agreed to go with her. Since I was going and Jake knew that her shopping trips lasted all day and he wanted to see me for more than an hour, he came with us. My aunt Alice tried to get my dad and mom to go too, but they refused.

"Fine. Then I'm going to pick clothes out for you two anyway, whether you like them or not. Oh, and you _are_ going to wear them," was her response to their rejection. She stomped away angrily.

After that, Jake, Aunt Alice, and I all made our way to her shiny canary yellow Porsche.

"Alright, Jake," Aunt Alice said almost reluctantly. "Since you're too tall to ride in the back, I'll let you drive. But if you damage my car in any way, I'll damage you," she warned, eyes narrowed.

"Wow, thanks, Alice," Jake said, mildly stunned. Aunt Alice had never let someone else drive her beloved Porshe.

"And Nessie, you can ride in front."

Now it was my turn to be shocked. "Um...thanks, Aunt Alice. But why are you letting Jake drive and me sit in the front?"

"Two reasons. One reason is because you are taller than me, so you will probably be more comfortable in the front. The second reason is because I want to see what stores we should go to to get you the cutest clothes, so I'll need to focus on the future and I'll have to focus really hard since you and Jake are going."

"Okay," I still didn't think she was telling the whole truth, but I wasn't going to tell her that. I climbed in the shiny leather passenger seat and put my seat belt on. I know I didn't really need to because I'm indestructible, but it's a habit.

Jake slid into the driver's seat, put his seat belt on, put the key in the ignition, and started the car.

Aunt Alice wanted to go to the mall in Spokane, Washington, so we had to travel quite a while.

"Aunt Alice, should we call my mom or dad to tell them that we'll be gone for a long time?" Once we had traveled for three hours and Jake told me we still had about three more hours to go, I figured my parents would want to know why we would be home so late.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea..." she grimaced. "I can see your father freaking out already..."

"Okay, I'll call him," I pulled out my cell phone from my purse and dialed my dad's cell phone number. He answered on the first ring.

"Hello, Sweetheart," he greeted.

"Hi, Daddy. Aunt Alice said that I should probably call you to tell you that we'll be home pretty late."

"Why?" he questioned, suddenly concerned.

"Because Aunt Alice wanted to go shopping in Spokane. We're a little more than half way there. Jake said it would take another three hours, and we'll probably be shopping at least five hours, plus another six hours back..." I rambled.

"Oh. Alright, Sweetie. I'll see you when you get back. Tell Alice and...Jake I said 'hi'," he told me. I don't know why he hesitated to say Jake's name, but I knew better than to ask. Over the phone, anyway.

"Will do. Bye bye, Daddy. I love you."

"Good bye, Nessie. I love you, too." He hung up.

I closed my phone. "I take it that everybody in this car heard the conversation and that my dad said to tell you both 'hi'?"

"Yep," Jake and Aunt Alice said in unison.

"Okay," I smiled. They hear everything. "Aunt Alice, how long will it take to shop?"

"Hmmm... About five and a half hours, I believe. Oh, and Nessie, you can't call me 'Aunt Alice' if your going to go to school with us. You have to call me 'Alice'. The same with your parents. You have to call them 'Edward' and 'Bella'. The same goes for Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper... Oh, and if there are any humans around, you have to call Carlisle and Esme 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Do you think you can do that?"

It was going to be hard to get used to, but I think I'll be able to handle it. The hardest would be calling my parents by their first names. "Um...yeah. I think I can do that."

"Good," she said. "You should probably start now, you know, to get used to the idea."

"Okay. Thanks...Alice," I said. It felt weird not saying 'aunt' before 'Alice'.

"Good job," Alice praised.

"Thanks," I mumbled and stared out the window. Small, rundown buildings and trees with bright green leaves were rushing past us. Jake wasn't as fast a driver as the rest of my family, but he still  
went well over the speed limit. Alice warned him whenever police cars were close, and he would decelerate. I leaned my head against the head rest and dozed off until we got to the mall.

**A/N: I'll try and post the next chapter tomorrow. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and favoriting my story! :D**


	4. Imprint

**A/N: Thank you to everyone that has reviewed my story so far! (Just to let you know, it's far from over) I'll try to finish chapter 5 by tomorrow and post it tomorrow, too. So if I don't, sorry. I hope you like this chapter! **

Chapter 4: Imprint

Renesmee Cullen's POV

When we finally got to the mall, Jake parked the car and Alice danced to the doors.

"Yea, shopping," Jake muttered sarcastically.

"Hey, you didn't have to come," I reminded him as we walked towards the automatic front doors side by side. "So why did you come?"

"I came for two reasons," he told me. "The first reason is because you came and I wasn't about to let you suffer a shopping trip with Alice by yourself."

"Hey!" Alice said, offended, having heard us with her supersonic vampire hearing. It was partly cloudy, and right now the golden sun was covered and just past the middle of the sky, so she didn't sparkle.

"Sorry, Alice, but it's the truth. The second reason is because I know what I want to wear to school and I know what Alice wants me to wear to school and those are two totally different ideas," he smiled my favorite Jacob smile, which made me grin in response. But I was still curious about something.

I laughed. "Yes, they are different."

When we got into the building, Alice dashed into a designer boutique and started picking out different shirts and dresses and pants and shoes for her, me, Rosalie, Esme, and...Bella. It was still weird to call everyone by their first names.

Alice had started looking at a rack of thin, silk, strapless, low-cut shirts. She held one the color of violets up. "Nessie, this would look so cute on you! Especially with this skirt!" She held up a very short, tight black skirt under the top. "Don't you think so?" she asked excitedly. Then she came and held the outfit up to me to see how I would look in it.

"Um, Alice, I don't think those would fit in with the school dress code," I said. From the corner of my eye, Jake's face looked a little darker. Wait...was he blushing?

Alice's expression deflated immediately. Then, as soon as it had gone away, it was back again. "Oh well, I'm still going to buy the outfit for you." She turned away and started looking at clothes again.

I sighed. Jake laughed. "You can't stop her from buying things just because it's against the rules, Ness. Even I know that," he smiled jokingly. The faint hint of blush was still there, but for the most part it was gone. I don't know why he blushed; it was out of character for him.

That reminded me. "Hey, Jake, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

Alice was in a different section of the store now, and the music was so loud I could hardly hear myself think, so I doubted she would be able to hear us if I whispered. "Okay, I wanted to know why you always go with me when I'm hunting, or when I'm dragged along on shopping trips, and you're even planning to move with us when my family and I move soon. You're at my house every morning for breakfast and stay until a little after dinner or as late as...Edward will let you. I know I'm special to you, but why?" My family was planning on moving in the next week or two, since we were going to go to high school and my family didn't want to risk being busted for going to high school too old in Forks. When my mom...I mean Bella...told Jake that we were going to move, Jacob insisted that he was going to go with us wherever we went. This time he was actually going to be living with us. Rosalie just loved that. Edward was really against it at first, too, but he eventually softened up enough to let Bella talk him into it. I still didn't know why my dad...ugh, I mean Edward...disliked Jake so much. Hopefully Jacob's answer to my question will tell me that.

Jacob's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "Well..." he sighed. "I could make it into a long story, but I think I'll give you the short version," he took a deep breath and mumbled, "Your dad is going to kill me for this..." Well, at least now I knew that whatever Edward was mad about is what Jake will explain.

"Do you want to go to the food court and get some lunch and you can tell me there?" I suggested.

"Yeah, sure," Jake said.

I found Alice by the high heeled shoes. "Hey, Alice, me and Jake are going to go get some lunch, okay?"

"Yes, that's fine. Do you need money?" She never looked away from the shoes.

"Yes, please."

She handed me ten twenty dollar bills from her purse.

"Thanks, Alice."

Jake and I headed toward the door leading out of the boutique. We then walked towards the food court.

"Okay, Jake, please tell me," I asked once we were seated at a table with our food. We got a medium meat pizza to share. I knew that was Jake's favorite kind of pizza, and that he would be eating most of it, so I didn't mind.

Jake took a deep breath. "Alright," he exhaled. "The short version. Well, you know that I've known you from the day that you were born, right?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with you going everywhere I go?"

"Alright, do you know any of my tribe's legends?"

"Um...I know a few of them."

"Okay. Have you ever heard of impr-"

"Jacob, you better not tell her that!" Alice yelled from across the food court.

I groaned. "Alice, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that Edward would kill me if I let Jacob tell you that story when I'm supposed to be with you!" she yelled, closer now.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "It should be Nessie's choice, not his."

"And maybe I agree with that. But right now that doesn't matter," Alice told us.

"Wait...you agree with me?" Jake asked, clearly surprised.

"Well, yes. To a certain extent."

"Well, then why won't you let me tell her?" Jake exclaimed, lightly pounding his fist on the table, making it shake.

"Because you know Edward would freak out about her reaction to this and then he would blame me..." The expression on Alice's face already looked fearful.

"Why are you being so selfish?" Jacob shot back.

"What are you two even talking about?" I partially shouted, confused.

"We're talking about impr-" Jake started to say, then Alice clasped her frosty, pale hand over his mouth.

"Alice!" I shouted.

"Do you want me to die?" Alice whisper-shouted.

"I think that's a bit of an overreaction, Alice. I highly doubt my father would actually kill you. Why is what Jake wanted to tell me so bad that you think my father would do that?"

Alice sighed. "I...it's not my decision, Renesmee. It's your father's decision to give Jacob permission to tell you. So please, stop asking me about it. It's Jacob's fault if he wants to tell you right now and get his head ripped off his shoulders." She finally took her had from over his mouth.

"Thank God! I couldn't have stood that stench much longer..." Jacob shuddered.

"Jacob, please tell me!" I begged.

"If you're going to tell her, please wait until someone else is in charge of you," Alice asked desperately.

"Alice, please just let him tell me!" I plead.

Alice looked like she was fighting with herself. If I wasn't so upset, it might have been funny to watch her brows furrow and her lips purse.

Alice sighed in defeat. "Fine, Jacob. Tell her. But it's your head."

With that, Alice stomped gracefully off to another store with bags of clothes hanging on her arms.

I looked hopefully at Jacob. "So, are you going to tell me now?"

He took a deep breath and said, "Yes, Nessie. I'll tell you now. Okay. So...I guess I'll start where I left off... Have you ever heard of imprinting?" he asked almost nervously.

I thought for a minute. The name didn't sound that familiar, so I shook my head no.

"Alright. Well, imprinting only happens to us. As in wolves," he swallowed. "It...it's sort of like...love at first sight...bound for eternity..."

I waited for him to go on, but he didn't. I let those words sink in. _Love at first sight...bound for eternity..._

"So...did you...um...imprint on someone already?" I'm pretty sure I already knew the answer to this, and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

"Yes."

I took a deep breath. Though I already knew the answer, I decided to ask, "Who?"

He took a deep, steadying breath, too. He closed his eyes. "You," he whispered.

"I see," was all I could say. After he confessed that he imprinted on me, probably the most important thing he will ever tell me in my life, all I could say was, 'I see'. Wow, I'm such a loser.

When Jacob slowly opened his eyes, he looked down at his half eaten tray of food.

I honestly didn't know what else to say. What do you tell a guy that just told you that he was bound to you for the rest of eternity?

"So...does that mean...that you, like, l-love me?" I asked hesitantly.

Still looking down at the table, he replied quietly, "I've always loved you, Renesmee."

I didn't know how I should take that. I mean, I'm sure he wasn't a pedophile or something, or else my dad would have killed him already.

As if he could read my mind, he assured me, "I mean I've always loved you...like a sister, I suppose you could say. Like I'm your big brother. Or like a best friend. Whichever you prefer, I suppose."

"Oh," I saw the expression on his face. It looked hurt.

"I never should have told you..."

"I'm sorry, Jake. I didn't mean to look offended or anything like that. It's just...I...I wasn't expecting something like that. But...if...if you love me like a sister right now...how, um, will you love me when...when I'm older?" I asked quietly and shyly. I could feel a blush creeping over my face.

The question obviously took him by surprise, and he blushed too. "Oh, um, well... I, uh, I don't really know...I guess that's up to, uh, up to you," he said, staring at the table again.

"Why is it up to me?"

"Well, because, I want you to make decisions by yourself. I'm not trying to be your dad or anything. And, if..." he inhaled. "If you don't love me one day, then...I guess I'll be okay with that. I'll be okay with that because I'll know that you'll be happy," then his voice got a lot quieter, so quiet that I strained to hear in the busy mall. "And if you don't pick me, then, I'm...I'm not going to stay around and watch you. I just thought it would be fair to tell you that. I'll ask Emmett or Jasper to...to k-kill me..."

That made me a little bit mad. I moved to the seat beside him and pulled it even closer than it already was, which was hard because it was so close in the first place. He looked a little astounded about how near we were to eachother. "No, Jacob. I will never let you kill yourself or let anyone else kill you if you have another choice. You want to know something? I love you, too. Like a big brother. You're my best friend, Jake. And I remember that when I was little and you left every day, I would be devastated. And you know what? I'm still devastated when you leave every day now. And I'm fairly certain that when I'm older and... Well, I'll pick you," I said, somewhat angered.

Jacob looked up at me, his dark brown eyes smoldering. In that moment, he looked...well, pretty hot. _What are you thinking? _the rational part of my mind yelled at me. _He's your best friend, nothing more. _But the other part of my mind, the instinctive, impulsive part, wondered how Jacob felt when he was holding someone lovingly, rather than like a friend. It also wondered how he kissed, just how soft those perfectly sculpted lips were... How it even felt to kiss someone...

His soft, smooth voice interrupted my fantasies. "You will?" he whispered so quiet that it was barely audible, even for my half-vampire ears.

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tightly. It took him by surprise. "Of course I will, Jake."

He held me back. He whispered almost huskily into my ear, "Thank you."


	5. Facing the Wrath

**A/N: Sorry I'm posting this so late. I just finished writing it. I think this is the longest chapter I've written so far... And I hope you don't find it awkward or anything. I worked really hard on it, and I had my friend read it several times. So many times that I think she's sick of reading... lolz :D But i hope you like it and that there are no typos! If there are, please tell me, and I'll try to fix them and post it correctly. :) I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 5: Facing the Wrath

Renesmee Cullen's POV

Once Alice had finished shopping and the trunk and partial backseat of her Porsche were filled with shopping and garment bags, we started the long drive home. Alice was still pretty upset at me and Jake. No one talked, and that made the drive home even longer.

After about 4 hours of no one talking, my head started to get lost in thoughts. My main thought was about the conversation Jake and I had had. I still had trouble convincing myself that it wasn't a dream, and the neutral expression on Jacob's face confirmed that I wasn't dreaming. I wonder if he would have told me if he knew my reaction, if he knew that there would be endless silence between us.

I was so lost in my thoughts about Jacob and imprinting and our conversation when we pulled up the long, narrow driveway to the house that I forgot a had a mind-reader father. Whoops. That was a bad mistake to make.

Edward was standing in the garage where Alice parked her car before we were even up the driveway. The expression on his face reminded me that he was indeed a vampire. His eyes were slits, narrowed at Jacob. Edward's nostrils were flaring, and his head was bent forward. He had himself positioned into a defensive crouch.

Jacob looked like he was afraid to get out of the car, and I would have been terrified, too. Long after Jake had put the car into park, we all slowly unbuckled our seatbelts and opened our car doors, Edward still standing with the horrifying expression plastered on his face.

As soon as Jake was out of the car, Edward said in a menacing, quiet voice, "How dare you tell my daughter about imprinting without my permission," the softness of his voice made it all the more menacing. "And Alice, why didn't you stop him from telling her?"

Alice defended herself, "Edward, I tried, but they were too stubborn, they didn't listen to me..." Alice avoided his eyes at all costs.

Edward must have read her mind and saw that she was telling the truth, because he told her reluctantly, "Fine. You can go."

As soon as Alice had his blessing, she dashed, full speed, into the house.

"You, however," my father continued, "will have some serious hell to pay," he walked towards Jacob slowly.

Jacob just stood there with a sad looking expression on his face. "Alright. Whatever you do I probably deserve it. I regret telling her anything, anyway," he said with a hint of coldness in his voice.

Wait...was he mad at me? He's never been mad at me. It hurt worse than when Edward was mad at me, and that was rare enough. But now that Jacob is mad at me... This is a whole new level of pain. It's like I fell into a pool of hot magma and it was burning me to death. Or like I got stabbed in the heart over and over again. I don't think I'll ever be able to heal.

Without knowing it, I started to cry. Sobs took over my body, and I sank to the floor. Within half a second, my father's arms were around me, propping me up and comforting me. Alice was right beside him. But Jake remained where he stood, although a brief looked of pain flashed through his eyes. Before I knew it, it was gone. I looked away from him.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?" Alice asked frantically.

I couldn't answer her. The torture of Jacob being mad at me was too much. As soon as I had thought this, of course my dad turned back to Jacob. That wasn't going to help anything; it would just make me focus on him more. With hearing this, Edward turned away from Jacob with nothing but a quick growl at him.

I don't know why I was so upset, and I didn't know why Jacob was mad at me. I told him I would pick him. Was he mad at me because of our silence? Or didn't he believe me? If only he knew the agony this is causing me…or maybe he does? Maybe he's trying to make me feel sorry for him. Well, that wasn't going to work.

Using every ounce of self-control I had, I quit my sobbing, reducing them into silent tears that ran like mini waterfalls down my cheeks. I wiped those tears away too, and tried not to sniffle. Then, I ran back home. I wanted this day to be over. All of what I had learned, what I had realized, what I had felt, it was all too much for me, even with my brain capacity. I just wanted to get home and go to bed. I wanted to cry myself to sleep without being judged, without an audience.

When I got back to mine and my parent's cottage, I walked past the living room and headed straight towards my bedroom. I ignored the questioning looks from my mom, knowing that my dad would tell her later; he tells her everything.

When I got to my bedroom, I closed and locked my door and collapsed onto my bed without bothering to change into my pajamas. I knew that locking the doors wouldn't keep out vampires if they wanted to get in, especially when they're your family, but maybe it would give them a clue that I don't want company, especially right now.

As soon as I hit the bed, the tears started flowing again, paired with noisy, unbroken sobs. Maybe I was acting like this because I was tired, not because of Jake. Maybe I was overreacting or imagined the coldness in his voice. Either way, I was mad, upset, lonely…

After about half an hour, my mom was knocking on my door, trying to coax me out. I never answered her. I don't think I could have even if I wanted to. I was still crying my eyes out. After a while she gave up. The rest of the house was quiet. I figured that my dad wasn't back yet. He was probably still yelling at Jacob.

After a long while, the tears slowed, and sleep came. I welcomed it. I was exhausted, mostly from shopping all day, crying for hours, and my conversation with Jacob. I shut my eyes and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I was awoken by a quiet, barely audible tapping on the outside of my window. I slowly opened my eyes and crawled out of bed. I scuttled over to the big bay window in the far side of my bedroom. I parted the curtains and looked through. He was standing there, tapping lightly on my window. In the light of the full moon, he looked like an angel, a perfectly carved sculpture. I shook off my awe. I was supposed to be angry with him. Or was that really what I wanted?

Despite my false anger, I unlatched the window lock. "Jacob," I said tiredly, "what are you doing here? Go away." More tears threatened to escape, but I bit my tongue to keep them hidden.

"No," he said simply, and then jumped gracefully through the window, landing on his feet without stumbling at all.

"I hope you know that my parents will be able to hear you, and then my dad will start yelling at you again," I was whispering, afraid that my voice would crack if I spoke aloud.

"Not likely. They're at your grandparent's house," he told me.

I looked at the digital clock on my dresser. "Really, Jake? You're here at four in the morning? And, may I ask, why you are here in the first place?"

He sighed. "I came here to apologize. I couldn't stand to see you upset. And I'm sorry that I was the cause of it. I know you probably think that I'm mad at you, but I'm not," he said, taking a step closer.

It was like he could read my mind. But still, I remained stubborn. "Well, I don't accept your apology. Not yet." With Jacob standing in front of me, not more than a foot away, I couldn't help it when my mind wondered. I couldn't help but think how beautiful and angelic Jacob was. I then remembered my earlier thought, my earlier attraction to him. He was such an amazing person, a person that might very well someday be mine. My heart fluttered at the thought. I mentally smacked myself for thinking anything like that yet. _You're only six years old! You're not old enough to date anyone, even Jake, let alone marry him!_ my mind screamed at me. But my heart was somewhere else.

"You won't?" he asked, pulling me out of my admiring and internal war. His voice broke my heart. It was small and lonely.

I couldn't help myself. I couldn't stop myself. I reached out and hugged him, burying my head in his hard, muscular chest and started to cry again.

Startled, he hugged me back, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the top of my head.

We remained like that for a long time. Or, at least it seemed like a long time to me. It could have been seconds, could have been minutes, could have been hours. I was beyond noticing. He held me there, stroking my hair and repeating reassurances.

When we finally broke apart, the sun was coming up on the horizon. I had released him reluctantly, as he had released me. I was still sitting on his lap with my head against his chest listening to his heartbeat when he spoke.

"So, am I forgiven?" he asked somewhat sheepishly, as if afraid if my reaction.

I smiled up at him. "Yes. You are officially forgiven."

"Thank God," he said dramatically. Then he smiled.

I laughed, then was serious again. "Jake, I really am sorry about my reaction to imprinting. I actually think it's...well, great," I could feel my cheeks getting hotter.

Jacob smiled. "I think it's great, too."

We were both still talking to each other when I heard the front door slam angrily.

"Jake," I whispered in his ear, hardly audible. "Go out through the window. Hurry."

He sighed. "No. I know you would get in trouble, anyway, and I'm not going to run away like a coward and let you face it alone," he proclaimed.

I was dumbstruck. How amazing and noble could one person be? Still in awe, I hugged him tightly. I could feel the flex of his muscles as he hugged me back. As we were caressing, my dad burst through the door, my mom close behind. The handle to the door was broken, without a lock. The look on my father's face made me want to disappear. At that moment, I wanted a huge pit to appear in the ground, swallowing me and Jake and ending up at an airport or something full of witnesses. Heck, right now I would even go for a deserted island. Just anywhere but here...

My father seemed at a loss for words, so he growled. A growl so fierce and cold that it reminded me of a male lion. A rabid male lion. I still hadn't let go of Jake, and maybe that's why he was so upset. Actually, upset was a huge understatement. More like furious, enraged, fuming...

My mom was the first one who spoke. "Jacob Black, get out of my daughter's room," she demanded, voice menacing.

"No," I was surprised when that word came out of my mouth. I didn't think I was capable of speaking at the moment.

My father finally found his voice. "Renesmee Carlie Cullen, do not talk back to your mother." he looked me directly in the eye, daring me to look away. He used my full name. I once again had a broken heart from him being angry at me, but it was nothing at all compared to Jacob being upset with me.

"Fine. Then I'll talk back to you," I decided to say in a moment of braveness.

"Ness..." Jake whispered in my ear, voice cautious.

"No," I answered to his unspoken message. I stood up, and he stood up with me, towering over my father. But in that moment, Jacob seemed to cower under my dad's hateful, murderous glare.

"Renesmee, you will not talk back to either of us!" my mom screeched in her musical voice.

"Fine, Dad. Read my mind and see what happened. Because you'll find nothing. Nothing at all happened," I stated the truth. I could see my father's glare lesson into a scowl as I replayed the images in my head. Then he saw something I didn't want him to see; the way I saw Jake now.

"You're only six years old, Renesmee. Technically," he said as a new expression filled his features. It was one of anger mixed with pain and betrayal.

"Dad, I know that..." I said. I was afraid to say more, afraid of how Jacob would react to my thoughts of him.

"Oh, so you're worried about Jacob's reaction to your feelings about him?" he questioned, already knowing the answer. _He can't be doing this to me,_ I thought, betrayed. "Well, someone should tell him. Let's see his reaction. Only _I'm_ not going to tell him. I'm going to let you take care of that."

I opened my mouth, trying to form words, but nothing came out. I couldn't believe my dad was doing this. Was he really going to embarrass me like this? Apparently he was, for he didn't speak.

Since I could no longer form words due to my shock and disbelief, I slowly and reluctantly laid my palm against Jacob's cheek. I showed him how I feel about him now, how I felt about him at the mall, when he arrived in my room tonight...

I watched as his expression became blank. I would give anything to hear what he was thinking like my father could. I would use my reverse-shield, but then I would be projecting his thoughts and feelings to him. So, I didn't resort to that.

It was only a few moments that had passed, but it felt like an eternity. When I finally took my palm away from Jacob's face, it looked like he was in shock.

Then, after endless moments of silence, he whispered, "You...you l-love me?" he stuttered.

"Of course I do, Jake," I mumbled just as quietly, looking him straight in his beautiful, smoldering, liquid dark brown eyes.

Out of nowhere, he enclosed me in a tight, loving embrace. In response to this, my father hissed. From the corner of my eye, I saw my mom put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Let it go, Honey," she muttered to him. I saw my dad relax a little. Then, they left the room silently.

Jake and I stayed locked in our tight caress for several minutes after they left. I didn't want us to break apart, but we had to. When we released each other, we went and sat on the floor next to each other. We didn't speak for a long time. Finally, Jacob broke the silence.

"Ness," he sighed. "You may love me, and I love you, but you_ are_ still technically six years old. I don't need to give your dad another reason to stare daggers at me. So, we have to wait to _love_ each other until you're…older. It just wouldn't be right now."

I knew he was right. I knew we had to keep up our friendship until I was older in real years. I could do that, couldn't I? Yes, I decided, I could. I didn't want to give my father, whose heart wasn't even beating, a heart attack.

"I know. You're right, Jake. I'm sorry that I had to make this harder for you."

"That's alright, Nessie. You're still my best friend, my sister. And I still love you," he said, a small smile on his lips.

"Thanks, Jake," I said, smiling back.

"No problem, Ness," then he smiled my favorite Jacob smile, one that always got me to grin in return.

"Just one more thing, Jake," I told him. "Please, whatever you do, don't be mad at me again. _Please."_ I begged desperately.

"What? Ness, what are you talking about?" He asked, bewildered.

"I'm talking about when you were mad at me earlier. That's why…why I was crying earlier," I admitted.

He was still confused. "Ness, I have never been mad at _you. _I was mad at _me_," he explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry… I… I honestly thought that you were mad at me… I'm sorry that I accused you of that…" I apologized.

"I'm sorry it seemed like that to you. I wasn't mad at you, Ness. I could _never_ be mad at you. It's pretty much impossible."

I hugged him. "Sorry," I mumbled again.

"That's okay," he assured. "Come on, let's go face the wrath of your parents," he said, getting up. He helped pull me up to my feet.

We walked into the front room where my dad and my mom were waiting for us.

**A/N: I'll post chapter 6 as soon as I'm done writing it... (I'm behind on writing...) But I'll try to get it posted tomorrow. Thanks for reading! :D**


	6. Goodbyes

**A/N: Sorry I missed a day to publish. To be honest, I'll probably miss another day of publishing tomorrow, because I haven't even really planned what I wanted to write... :D Anyway...I hope you like it! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!**

Chapter 6: Goodbyes

Renesmee Cullen's POV

After my parents has lectured us about basically the same thing Jake had lectured me about, they told me to go pack. We were going to move in a few days; Alice wanted to move sooner rather than later. Jacob went home to pack his few belongings, too.

When I went to my room to pack, I was overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start. I had too many things to my name.

Edward, reading my mind, said, "Pack your clothes first, but if they don't fit, don't pack them and Alice will take care of them," he advised.

So, I did what I was told. I had to try on a few things, but I still had all my clothes packed in just a little over half an hour, thanks to my half vampire speed. I decided to pack my other accessories next. I packed the hundreds of necklaces that my family had given me for holidays or just every day occasions. I also packed tons of pairs of earrings and my dozens of bracelets. I only had about a dozen rings which, compared to the rest of my jewelry, was a very small number.

I stopped packing when I came across a certain ring. It was the first one I had ever owned. Jacob had given it to me for Christmas, the first year I was born. I loved it. What type of ring was it again? Oh, yeah, a promise ring. I wasn't exactly sure what a promise ring was, though. I used to wear it every day.

Since I didn't know what a promise ring was, I decided to look it up. I started up my laptop, went to the Internet, and searched it.

_Promise ring: A pre-engagement ring, a ring worn to signify a commitment to a monogamous relationship._

My breathing stuttered. Wait, has Jacob proposed to me? Were we technically engaged, or was it just something to say that we were going to be engaged one day? Other questions flooded my mind, but, trying to focus once more, I pushed them to the back of my mind. I shut down my laptop, and packed it, too. Deciding not to pack the promise ring in case it got lost, I slipped it on my right ring finger. I continued to pack.

When I had filled my twelfth suitcase full with my belongings, save for my toiletries and bedding, since I was still going to be sleeping here for a few more days, I carried my suitcases outside my room and into the hallway. I went downstairs for breakfast then, the sun just over the horizon. My mom was making waffles this morning, and they smelled delicious. She handed me my plate, the waffles drowned in syrup, and I dug in.

When I started to eat, Bella caught sight of the ring on my finger. "Sweetheart, what's that?"

"Oh, this?" I said, holding my hand up, "I found it when I was packing. Jake gave it to me when I was younger, right?"

"Yeah, he did," my father's voice was added to the conversation. He still looked extremely ticked, so I decided to just enjoy my breakfast after that.

When I shoved the last bite into my mouth, Edward, who had just sat in the seat next to me, asked, "Are you finished packing?"

Swallowing, I answered, "Yes. All twelve of my suitcases are full."

"Good. I'll take them out to the car now," he answered.

"Wait," I said, confused. "Why are you taking them to the car today? Aren't we moving in a few days?"

"No," he answered. "We're moving in a couple of hours. Alice changed her mind."

"Oh. Well, do you want me to get my sheets and comforters and pillows and everything else that's still in my room?"

"Yes, please. Take them out to the car at your grandparents' house. If you don't have another suitcase, there's one in your mom and I's room."

"Okay," I answered, and trudged back to my room. I took all of my bedding off the bed after getting a suitcase from my parents' room, folded them neatly, and laid them in. I also packed my toiletries after brushing my teeth; syrup didn't have a very good aftertaste. I then headed out to the front yard where my dad was waiting to head off to my grandparents' house where the cars were.

Edward was holding all twelve bags piled atop one another, and I was only holding one. "Dad, I can hold some of those," I offered.

"Alright, if you're sure," he said, giving me three of the suitcases. "Let's run," he said with a grin.

We started running through the trees, much slower than usual, what with our load we had to carry.

When we got to the house, Rose and Em were in the driveway as well, putting their suitcases into Emmett's Jeep. When Em saw us approach, he enveloped me into a huge bear hug, and I dropped the suitcases I was carrying. Rose caught them, though, vampire reflexes faster than the laws of gravity.

"Thanks, Rose," I acknowledged.

"No problem, Sweetheart," she said, laying them in the trunk of my dad's Volvo.

"Um, no offense, Ness, but you smell strongly like dog," Emmett complained, letting me go and pinching his nose. From the corner of my eye, I saw my dad scowl.

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, Emmett. I thought you would be used to it by now."

"Well, a little bit, I guess."

I smiled. My uncle Em was so childish sometimes.

When Edward had piled the rest of the suitcases into the trunk, we headed back to the trees to head home. I started to run, but he restrained me.

"Wait, I wanted to talk a little bit," he said.

"Okay…" I said, puzzled. Hadn't he lectured me enough today?

He laughed. "Yes, I have lectured you a lot today, and I'm sort of sorry about that. But, I just wanted to make my point clear."

"I know, I know," I said, annoyed. "Me and Jake can't really be together until I'm _at least _fourteen in real years. You've explained this many times, and me and Jake both agreed to it, so you can stop telling us."

He laughed. How did he think this was funny? "I wasn't going to talk about that, Nessie. I was actually going to tell you something else."

"What?" I asked, instantly curious.

"I was going to tell you that I, um, so happened to get you and Jake into all the same classes."

"Really? Thank you!" I practically shouted. I hugged him, and he hugged back, laughing. "But there's always going to be your mother or me or Alice, or someone else in the class, too."

"Okay, that's fine. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He was still laughing. "You're welcome, Sweetheart. Come on, you're mom will be wondering we are." He said, then started running towards the house. I shot after him.

When we got home, I was mildly surprised to see Jake there with a couple suitcases of his own.

"Hey, Jake," I smiled and sat on the couch next to him.

"Hey, Ness. So, when are we moving?" he asked.

"Today," replied Edward.

Jake had the same reaction I did. "What? I thought we still had a few days left here. I haven't said goodbye to anyone yet…" his expression looked sad.

I hugged him. "It's okay, Jake. We're not leaving this moment. You still have time. I'll go with you back to La Push to say goodbye if you want," I offered.

"Really?" he asked. "Well, if it's okay, then yeah, can we go?" he looked at Edward.

"Yes, you can both go," he allowed.

"Thanks, Dad!" I said, and pulled Jake out the door.

Jake ran into the trees and came back as an enormous red-brown wolf. He sank too the ground, and I hopped up onto his back. He must have wanted as much time as possible to say his farewells, because he took off at his, what seemed to me to be, top speed.

We got to the edge of the trees in a record three minutes and two seconds. But when we got there, Jake had to phase human, so he trotted back into the trees. When he came back, he was human again. Then, we ran as fast as we dared to Jacob's house.

"Dad!" Jacob called once we were in the doorway.

Billy rolled himself out to the front room. "Hey, Jake. Hey, Ness. What're you two doing here?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Well, we're not moving in a few days," Jake said almost nervously.

"Wait, then when are you moving?" Billy asked.

"Um…today," Jacob said quietly. "I'm sorry, Dad. But I'll run or drive back as soon as I can," he promised.

Billy looked distressed and exhausted. "Alright, Jake. I'll…I'll miss you, son."

Jake knelt down and hugged him tightly. "I'll miss you, too, Dad."

"Love you, Jake," said Billy, hugging back.

"Love you, too, Dad," Jake replied. Jacob released him and stood up.

Billy reached out his arms toward me. I embraced him. "Bye, Billy. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Sweetie. Come visit wiht Jake, okay?" he said, kissing the top of my head.

"Of course," I pledged.

When I stopped hugging him, he told us, "You should probably go say goodbye to all your brothers…and sisters," then he mumbled, "Still not used to Leah…"

Jake laughed. "Yeah, it's hard to get used to."

When Billy told us goodbye for the last time, we left to go hunt down the rest of the pack.

We found Quil with a nine-year-old Claire building a sand castle on the beach.

"Hey, Jake, hey, Ness," Quil greeted us.

"Hey, Quil," Jake acknowledged.

"Hi, Nessie!" Claire shrieked in her little girl voice.

I smiled. "Hi, Claire. Are you playing with Quil today?" Claire and I used to be best friends when I looked younger, but know, since I technically looked about eighteen, we didn't see each other nearly as much.

"Yeah!" Claire exclaimed.

I grinned at her. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah!" she repeated.

I laughed, then, I was serious again. "Jake, you should tell Quil now."

He sighed. "Alright, I'll tell him," once again, he looked sad.

Quil questioned suspiciously, "Wait, Jake, are you and Nessie getting married?" he was excited and shocked. But I blushed at just the very thought.

"No! She's only technically six!" Jacob partially yelled.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I keep forgetting."

"That's alright, Quil. We're actually here to tell you that…well…I'm not moving in a couple days. I'm moving today. So we're here to say goodbye."

Quil looked instantly deflated. "Oh," he said slowly. "Well, goodbye, Jake. Will you come and visit?"

"Of course I will, Quil," Jake answered.

I hated this. I hated that _I_ had to make Jacob say goodbye to all of his friends. If it weren't for me, he could continue living his life the way it was. But no, he was too bound to me. Why did I have to be such a monster?

As soon as Jake and Quil had said their farewells, Jake and I headed off to find more of his pack brothers.

When he had told all of his friends that he was moving today, they all had the same reaction; sadness. On the walk back home, I finally burst.

"I _hate_ this! I hate that you have to stop living here because of _me_! Why didn't you stay here?" I shouted. "I hate being the cause of your pain and all of your friend's pain! Why am I such a horrible person? Why did you have to imprint on someone who lived in a family that doesn't age and has to move once every several years? You should hate me!" I was on the verge of crying.

He stopped walking and enveloped me into a giant, loving caress. "Shhh, Ness. No. I could never hate you, not even if I wanted to. And my life would be nothing if I hadn't imprinted on you. Or I would be dead…or in the wilderness as a wolf somewhere… So, in an odd way, without knowing it, you saved my life. And I wanted to move with you. As much as I'll miss my friends and my family, it would be nothing, nothing at all, compared to the torture I would go through if I wasn't with you," he whispered against my head.

He was just so sweet; I started to cry.

"Ness, Nessie, why are you crying?" he asked frantically.

"You're…you're…" I blubbered. Since I couldn't speak, I put my hand to his face and showed him how sweet I thought he was.

He kissed my hand in response to the images. "I'm not being sweet, I'm just telling the truth," he whispered modestly.

I shook my head. He wiped away my tears with his thumb, and helped me to my feet after I had fallen down under the invisible weight of my grief.

We started walking towards home again. We got there just in time to see Alice stack the final suitcase in the car.

"Are you ready to move?" she asked eagerly, a smile plastered onto her smooth, pale, flawless face.

"Yes," Jake and I both said reluctantly and simultaneously.

"Alright, then come on, get in the car," Edward told us, getting into the driver's seat of his shiny silver Volvo.

Alice skipped off to drive her canary yellow Porsche to the new house in Reno, Nevada.

"Ready to go?" Jake asked, taking my wrist and leading me to the car.

Taking one last look at the house grew up in and would never forget for as long as I live, I whispered, "Yes."


	7. Moving

**Chapter 7: Moving**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV **

Jake led me to the car and opened the door for me like a gentlemen. When I got in, I put my seatbelt on, and when Jake climbed into the crowded backseat with me, my dad started the car and began driving. A single silent tear ran down my cheek, and I hastily wiped it away.

After a few minutes of driving, Jake noticed the ring on my hand for the first time. I saw him smile, then turn away and lookout the window again. I heard my dad let out a soft hiss under his breath, probably in response to Jacob's thoughts. What could he be thinking that would make Edward so upset?

Curious, I concentrated on reversing my power and reading Jake's mind. I caught a glimpse of what he was thinking.

…_I can't believe she's wearing it. She hasn't worn it for years… Wow, someday she'll be mine… _

I pulled out of his head and stopped listening then. I didn't want my dad to be mad at me for hearing those thoughts, too. But I couldn't help but thinking about the last thing he thought…_Someday she'll be mine…_ Wow. Would I really be his one day? Wait…would _he _be _mine_? More questions flooded my brain, but I kept them hidden because of my dad.

"Dad, how long will this trip take?" I asked.

"About eight hours," he answered. His voice was still a little cold form hearing me and Jake's thoughts, no doubt. "Yep," I heard a confirming mumble from my dad.

_Sorry,_ I thought to him.

"Just get him to shut up!" he muttered, almost too quiet for me to hear.

I nodded. "Hey, Jake," I said, patting his arm to get his attention and pulling him out of his trance. Well, not that his thoughts weren't already on me…

"Yeah?" he asked, looking at me.

"Do you want to listen to the radio or something?" I improvised.

"Um…yeah, sure." He agreed.

"Dad, can you turn on the radio, please?" I asked.

He nodded and turned it on.

The station was a fifties and sixties station. Though I didn't like the music, I knew my dad did, and he was the one that needed to calm down.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, Edward finally calmed down enough to hum along with the music.

After a few more hours in the car, I started to doze off. Since I hardly got any sleep the night before, I was exhausted. And, with the soft, calming music, it was hard not to fall asleep.

When I was sleeping, I dreamt. I dreamt of what Jake had said, and what it would be like if he was ever mine.

I woke up about two hours later. I was sweating. No wonder, I was leaning against Jacob, my head on his chest, his arms enclosing me, trapping me to him. I pushed gently on his arms, but he didn't budge. I looked up questioningly at his face, and found the reason why he wouldn't let me go from his arms. He was asleep, too.

I was still steaming hot, so I asked my dad quietly, "Can you turn on the air conditioning or roll down the windows or something, please?"

"Yeah, I'll do something," he replied. Then he yelled, "Jacob, wake up! You're giving my daughter a heat stroke!"

"Dad!" I whisper-yelled. But it was too late, Jake was already waking up. "Was that really necessary?" I complained. Meanwhile, my father was holding back laughter. "Sorry, Jake," I apologized as he released me from his arms.

"That's okay, Ness," he mumbled sleepily.

"Why couldn't you just roll down the windows?" I accused.

"Because that would be too simple," my dad told me. "Besides, it's hot outside, too. And you would probably still be hot if I turned on the air-conditioning. Plus, do you think it was easy for me to watch you two cuddle like that?" he spit the last words.

Jacob sighed. "We weren't… Whatever. You wouldn't listen, anyway," he gave up.

A few minutes later, Jacob fell back asleep. He must have been really tired. But I stayed awake and watched the scenery pass by the car window. I saw the steep mountains tower over me and the mini waterfalls cascade down them. I watched the tall evergreen trees, much like the ones back home, rush past in a dark green blur as Edward went well over the legal limit.

The rushing trees reminded me of when I rode on Jacob's back through the forest. I hoped we lived by a wood at our new home.

After a while of looking at the mesmerizing landscape, I fell back asleep as well. I didn't dream this time.

This time, when I woke, it was because someone was gently shaking me.

"Ness, Ness, wake up," I heard a soft, deep, and…worried voice say. I opened my eyes and saw warm, gentle, caring brown ones staring at me. It was Jacob.

"Why do I have to get up?" I mumbled tiredly.

Jake chuckled, sounding relieved. "Because you're at your new house," he whispered, and got out of the car.

Before I could even blink, he was opening my door for me. I unbuckled my seatbelt and took his hand as he helped me out.

"Thanks," I said, now wide awake.

"No problem," said Jake, and shut my door once I was out.

"Where is everyone?" I wondered aloud. The land around the house was empty, and I didn't hear any voices inside.

"They went hunting after they took all the suitcases inside. I told them I would stay here and try to wake you up," he smiled.

"Wait…_try _to wake me up?" I asked.

"Yeah. Your mom and your dad tried to wake you up, then Alice, then Emmett… You see the point. It was like you were in a coma or something."

"Oh…sorry," I smiled sheepishly.

He chuckled again. "That's alright. Come on. You and I both have yet to see the new house," he said, pulling me towards the door leading into the giant, mansion-like house.

I followed. He got to the big, polished wood front doors and turned the silver doorknob.

The interior of the house was beautiful. The first thing you saw was a steep, wide, carpet-covered staircase with polished wood banisters. The next thing you spotted was a gorgeous living room, with part of the room having a wood floor, the other part of the room pale, plushy carpet with crème colored walls. The room connected to a glorious dining room that only Jake and I would be using. It had a black wood table, surrounded by the same color wood chairs.

There were still two levels of the house to go through, and another part of the ground level. I looked out the giant, rectangular window in the living room. I let out a sigh of relief. The house was surrounded by trees. At least I would have some part of home here.

Jacob was smiling. "What was the sigh for?" he questioned.

I smiled, a little embarrassed. "There are trees. That means that I can ride on your back…" I finished quietly.

He chuckled. "Do you like the house?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's amazing. Is all of our furniture here already?"

"For the most part, yes. Or, at least all of the things for the living room and basement. Oh, and there were already kitchen appliances…" he rambled.

"So nothing is upstairs yet? Where am I going to sleep? I'm tired," I complained.

He laughed. "Ness, are you serious? You just slept like the dead and you're tired?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm tired. You know, a werewolf just kept me up for hours, but no big deal," I said sarcastically, punching his arm lightly.

He laughed again. "Yeah, and a half-vampire made me feel guilty for hours, too, but I got plenty of sleep," he mocked.

"Oh, come on. You should be used to it by now."

"I know. That's the problem, I am…" right on cue, he yawned. Then he collapsed onto the beige leather couch and closed his eyes. "What time is it?"

I sat in the recliner chair next to him and looked at my phone for the time. "Ten fifty-three," I answered. Then I reclined the chair and closed my eyes as well.

"Perfect timing," he said, yawned again, then went silent. A few minutes later, I heard his light snoring, a sure sign that he was asleep. So, I followed his lead and went to sleep too. I didn't need to try very hard.

This time when I dreamt, it was about school. I'd never been to school before, so I didn't know what to expect. Everyone said it was boring, except Alice. I swear, she had a positive outlook on almost everything. I dreamt of how it would be like to be with Jacob and the rest of my family all day. I wondered how the other kids would see me as. Would they see me as a freak, pretty, normal, or just not notice me at all? I didn't know what to expect.

When I woke up, rays of sunlight were shining through the windows. I was still on the recliner. I looked at the couch and saw Jacob sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Apparently he just woke up, too. I heard voices in the kitchen and figured my mom was making breakfast.

"Hey," I greeted Jake.

He looked over at me. "Hey. Good morning," he smiled.

I smiled back. "Good morning. Let's go get some breakfast. It smells good."

"Okay."

We got up and walked to the kitchen together, where my mom was, in fact, cooking breakfast. She was cooking blueberry muffins this time.

"Thanks for breakfast, Mom," I thanked as she laid my plate before me.

"No problem, Sweetheart."

"Yeah, thanks, Bells," Jacob said as Bella put his plate in front of him, too.

"No problem, Jake," she repeated.

When I had finished eating, I asked my dad, "When's the rest of the furniture supposed to get here?"

"As soon as Alice is done shopping for it. And you know her. She can shop faster than I can run. And she paid for overnight, nonstop shipping or whatever. You know her…" he sighed.

"Okay," Alice would still be shopping all day.

"When does school start?" Jake asked.

"In a month or so," Bella answered.

"That long?" I exclaimed. I didn't know if I could wait that long.

My father chuckled. "Yes, that long, Ness."

I could tell that Jake was honestly thrilled, though trying to look upset for my benefit.

"It's okay, Jake. You don't have to act sad or anything," I said.

"I'm not acting sad. I want you to be happy. And you're not, so…now I'm not, either."

Edward rolled his eyes.

I rolled my eyes back at him and hugged Jake. "Thanks. But really, you don't have to pretend."

My dad was getting a little more exasperated. Good. I'd achieved my goal.

I released Jake from my embrace. "Want to go look at the rest of the house, you know, since we passed out before we finished looking at the first floor?" I joked.

He chuckled. "Sure, let's go."

We both looked at the remaining part of the first floor, which consisted of a family room that was much like the living room, a laundry room with a stainless steel washer and dryer, a half-bath with a marble sink, and a full bath, much like the half-bath, only it had a shower and a bathtub, too.

We then went upstairs. The area of upstairs was pretty bare, since there was seldom furniture. No one had claimed rooms yet but I figured that I would get one of the smaller ones, but none of them were that small at all. They all had the same color walls—off-white. I decided that I was going to have my room painted and personalized as soon as possible.

When Jake and I had finished scoping out the house, he decided he wanted to watch television. Since Emmett just had to have a TV installed—a flat screen seventy-two inch, might I add—that was possible. I would have gotten on the computer, but the internet wasn't set up here yet… I sighed.

So, in the end, I decided to watch the baseball game with Emmett and Jake.

This move might need some getting used to, but as long as I had Jake and my family, and they loved me, I would get used to it in no time.


	8. First Meeting, First Knowing

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post this. I've had to do a lot of things for school, like projects and stuff, which, if you ask me, is cruel. I mean, there's like, hardly any school left, but teachers are giving us projects? UGH! excuse my rant... okay, back to the point... :D i hope you like this chapter! **

**Chapter 8: First Meeting, First Knowing**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

After the first month and a half in the new house, I was starting to get used to it. Jake and I had gone back to La Push twice to visit, since we promised we would. We had also ridden through the woods many times; so many that Jacob's paw prints had created a new trail.

But now, after waiting basically my whole life, I get to go to school. I was so ecstatic. Alice had already bought me tons of new clothes; an outfit for everyday of the year, probably.

We went to school tomorrow—Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Jake, and I. Both me and Jake had to get up earlier than we were used to; six o' clock. But the others would already be awake, of course.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I was so excited. I went downstairs for breakfast, which this time my grandma was cooking, and saw Jake already there.

"Hey, Jake!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled, no doubt at my bubbly attitude. "Hey, Ness. You excited about something?"

I looked at him in disbelief. "Um…_yeah!_ We get to go to school tomorrow!"

"Yea!" he said with false enthusiasm.

I smacked his arm and he recoiled.

"Hey!" he said. "That wasn't very nice."

"You spoiling my mood isn't very nice, either," I retorted.

I could see Esme holding back laughter at our exchange.

"Sorry, Ness," he apologized.

"That's okay," I accepted. We could never fight for long, not that we ever fought that much at all in the first place.

My grandma put my breakfast in front of me, and I started eating then. It was delicious. My grandma Esme was just as good of a cook as my mom, even though she had been human about a century ago. Grandma made chocolate chip pancakes, and they were really yummy.

When I was done, I got on the computer—we finally got one—hoping that the time would pass faster. And, after watching countless music videos and playing countless computer games, it had only been four and a half hours.

I then turned off the computer and sat on the couch in the living room where Jake was watching TV. He didn't look like he was paying that much attention, he looked a little bored, actually.

"Hey," I said.

He looked over at me. "Hi."

"What are you watching?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It came on after the game."

"I see," I said. There was an awkward, unfamiliar silence between us.

Finally he asked, "Do you want to go visit La Push?"

"Would we have enough time?" I wondered.

"Of course we would. Well, if I ran my full speed, that is. If I run as fast as I can, we'll get there in an hour or so."

"An _hour_?" I asked disbelievingly. "And I thought last time we visited you were going your full speed."

He chuckled. "You've never seen me going full speed. You'd be surprised…" he grinned.

Curious, I agreed. "Alright. Let's go."

We both walked out the door. I called to Grandma that I was going to La Push with Jake, and she said to be back soon, before dark.

When we got to the edge of the trees, I was surprised when Jake stopped next to me.

"Look, if I'm going too fast for you or something, you _have_ to tell me. I'll slow down. _Please_ don't try to tough it out, okay?" he warned.

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm serious."

"Yes, Jacob. I'll do as you say. I promise," I smiled angelically and vowed mockingly.

This time Jacob rolled his eyes. "Okay, but just remember when I say 'I told you so,' I warned you," he said as he disappeared into the woods.

I saw the enormous russet-colored wolf emerge through the trees. He sank to the ground, and I climbed onto his back. I held on tighter than usual, following his rules.

He turned his giant head around and gave me a look as if to ask, "Are you ready?"

I nodded, and he stood up. Before I knew it or could even register what was happening, we were flying through the trees. All I could see was a solid wall of green, hardly ever flickering, and when it did flicker, it was to brown, the color of the branches. But that was when I _could_ see. The wind was mobbing my face, making it nearly impossible to see or keep them open for more than a second or two.

_Holy crap, _I thought. _He wasn't kidding._

I soon felt my grip dangerously slipping, so, leaving my pride behind me, I yelled over the wind, "_Stop!_"

He reacted immediately, claws furrowing in the dirt, and spun around. The sudden stillness made my head rush. I slid down the side of him, landing on the hard, cold ground.

Jacob disappeared and came back in human form before I could take a breath. He sprinted over to me.

"Nessie, Ness, are you alright?" he inquired frantically, sinking to the ground next to me.

Blinking a few times, I nodded my head and sat up.

"Holy crap, Jake. You weren't kidding about the speed thing," I admitted. "And please, no saying 'I told you so,'" I begged.

He smiled his beautiful smile at me. "But I _did_ tell you."

"How can you run so freaking fast?" I asked incredulously.

He laughed. "It's a wolf thing. There's a reason we're meant to kill vampires."

I looked sternly at him.

He quickly rethought his words. "_Bad _vampires."

I took a deep breath. "God, I guess so…"

"Your choice. We can either go back home or you can actually listen to me and hold on for dear life," he smiled jokingly.

"I'll hold on for dear life," I remembered how fast we were going, so I curiously asked, "How far away from home are we, anyway?"

"About twenty-three miles," he said calmly. Although we'd only been traveling for a minute or two, we'd traveled _that far_?

"Holy crap," I repeated. I seem to be at a loss for words.

He laughed. "Come on," he said, standing up and offering me his hand to help me up.

I took it, and he pulled me upright. He went back into the forest and phased, lowered to the ground, and I climbed onto his back again.

He once again took off running, but this time I was prepared. I grasped two fistfuls of fur and hung on until my knuckles were white, even whiter than normal, that is. I wasn't as pale as my family, but I wasn't as tan as Jake.

He continued running full speed, the thick wall of jade still vanishing around us.

Just as Jake had predicted, we got to the woods in La Push in a little over an hour.

I stepped through the trees, and a couple seconds later, human Jacob joined me.

We were in the woods near his house, and if we ran at a fast human pace, we would be there in about four seconds.

When we got to the front door, Jacob opened it and stepped in.

I saw Billy sitting in the front room watching TV. He looked over at our approach.

"Jake! Ness!" he said, a smile spreading across his face.

Jake smiled. "Hey, Dad."

I smiled, too. "Hi, Billy."

Billy smiled back at both of us, then focused on Jake. "Hey, Jake, there's someone here, they're going to be leaving soon, and they really wanted to see you. You haven't seen them for years…" he hinted.

"Wait…Becca?" Jake guessed.

Billy's smile, if possible, got wider. "Yep."

"What, who's Becca?" I asked curiously. The name wasn't familiar.

"Rebecca is—" he started to say, but right then, a beautiful girl with long, black hair cascading down her back walked through the front door.

"_Jake!_" she exclaimed, and ran to hug him.

"_Becca!_" he smiled, just as excited as her. He hugged her back.

After a few more seconds of embracing, they finally let go.

"Holy… Oh my God, Jake! You're…you're, like, a freaking _beast_!" she said in disbelief. Jake was shirtless, and that didn't help my jealousy lessen.

And I _was_ jealous. This mystery girl that was hugging and praising and telling Jake he was buff and a beast made me jealous. _Very_ jealous. He was _my_ Jacob.

"I told you," Billy said, pulling me back to the present situation. I was sure that by now, I was glaring daggers at her. _Rebecca_. Ugh.

Rebecca laughed. "I guess so," she looked at me, finally noticing that I was in the room. She took a tiny step back, probably because of my hostile expression. Then she looked back to Jake. "Who's this?" she asked, turning her face towards me again.

"This is Renesmee. But we call her Nessie. Or Ness," Jake explained, focusing on me.

"Hi, Nessie. I'm Rebecca," she extended her hand towards me and I took it, gripping it a little harder than necessary. She soon let go, flexing her hand.

Jacob threw his arm over my shoulder, which made me a little less angry. _He still likes me, _I thought.

But then, when Jake said, "Becca's my sister. I haven't seen her for years," I felt horrible.

"Oh," was the only thing I could speak. Wow, I had just made a total fool out of myself. Then, I recovered. "I thought Rachel was your only sister."

"She's my only sister that lives here, or in the continental U.S., anyway. Becca lives in Hawaii," he told me. "Rach only stayed here because of Paul, anyway."

"Wait…Rach is…she's dating _Paul_?" she said in utter disbelief.

Jake laughed. "No."

Rebecca looked relieved. She let out a sigh.

Well, she was relieved until Jake said, "She's married to Paul. They're on their honeymoon. That's why she's not here."

Rebecca looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. "P-Paul? She…married…Paul?"

Jacob laughed. "Yes. He's changed from when you last saw him. Trust me."

I was shocked. Did Rebecca not know that Jake was a werewolf? I laid my palm on Jake's cheek, still a habit, and asked him. He shook his head slightly. Wow, Rebecca didn't know.

Becca saw Jake shake his head and my palm on his face. She looked at us questioningly. "What…are…why…?" She couldn't seem to form a proper sentence.

Jacob sighed in exasperation. "Dad, can I tell her? At least about me, and maybe Ness, too?"

Rebecca looked at him with a puzzled, almost worried expression.

Billy looked like he was warring with himself. Then he took a deep breath and said, "Alright."

Jacob looked at Rebecca. "You better sit down."

Rebecca took a seat on the couch, but me and Jacob remained standing.

"Okay, so, you noticed that I, well, don't exactly look like how you remember me?" he began. Rebecca nodded, and he continued. "But one thing, Rebecca. You have to _promise _that you won't tell _anyone_, not even your husband, or your kids, or _anyone at all_."

"I promise," she vowed.

"Alright," he took a deep breath. "Well, how I look now… I've looked like this since I was sixteen. The reason is because… Well, because… I'm…" he hesitated.

I took hold of his hand. "It's okay. Go on," I encouraged.

Becca looked at us curiously.

Jacob didn't let go of my hand. He took breath and got right to point. "I'm a werewolf. Technically a shape-shifter, but either way, I'm a huge, enormous wolf."

Becca looked like she was frozen. It was a few minutes before she. "Wait…you're…you're trying to tell me that…you're a…_wolf_?"

Jacob nodded.

"But, that's impossible. No one can turn into a giant wolf," she spoke quickly. She was in denial.

Jacob spoke again. "Okay, I'll prove it to you," he walked towards the front door. "Come on, Becca."

I followed him through the doorway, and then a hesitant Rebecca followed. Jacob walked into the woods, and Becca and I followed him. Jake kept going, but I stopped Rebecca as she tried to follow him.

"He'll come," I said.

"This…this isn't real, right?" she asked.

"It's real, Rebecca," I said solemnly.

Just then, the mammoth, red-brown wolf that I loved came through the trees. He walked slowly, almost hesitantly.

"J-Jake?" Rebecca asked, eyes bulging.

Jacob nodded his big wolf head.

Rebecca looked like she was going to pass out, but she soon recovered. I heard her mumble, "Holy…my brother's a werewolf…"

Jacob smiled his wolfy grin and went back into the trees to phase, and came back human and smiling.

"Told you," he said.

Rebecca looked at me. "So did you react like this when you found out that your boyfriend is a werewolf?"

"Wait…_boyfriend_?" I asked, shocked. Even if Jake and I were allowed to date, we wouldn't call ourselves something as trivial as "boyfriend" and "girlfriend".

"Yeah…you two aren't _married_, are you?" then she turned to scold Jake. "Why didn't you tell me? Isn't it bad enough that Rachel didn't tell me that she was getting married?" she accused.

"Becca, Becca, no…we're not married. We're not even dating. Nessie's my…friend, like, a third sister, I guess…sort of."

Wait…_sort of_? What did _that _mean?

"Sort of?" Becca asked, speaking my thoughts.

"Well, she's my friend _now_. I imprinted on her." Wait…did he say that _proudly_? I saw a smile tug at his lips. Wow, he did look proud, and it made my heart flutter.

"Wait, so you mean that legend is true, too?" she asked. How did she know about imprinting? Well, she was Quileute. She would have heard all of the legends.

"Yep. And that brings me to Ness's story," he looked at me. "Do you mind? Or, more importantly, will your family mind?"

"I don't mind. As long as Alice can't see us and Edward doesn't hear us think about it, we should be good."

"Alright. I'll try not to think about it, then," he said and focused his attention back to Rachel, who looked extremely confused. "Okay, there's no other way to say this, so…I'll just say it. Renesmee's a half-vampire."

Becca's face paled and she took a few steps away from me, towards Jake. I sighed. I can't really say I didn't expect this reaction. But, I guess after learning that your brother is a werewolf and then learning that his imprint is a half-vampire, half-human hybrid would make you be sort of freaked out.

"I'm only _half_ vampire. But I'm also half human. I'm like Jake, only he's a wolf," I tried to reason.

Jake smiled reassuringly at Becca. "She's not dangerous. If she was, I wouldn't have brought her here. And she eats human food, she doesn't drink blood. And if she was dangerous, but I assure you she's not, I could take her," he said, and looked over at me and winked.

Even though I knew he could beat me in, well, basically anything, I still said challengingly, "Wanna bet?"

He smiled and nodded. Before I could react, he ran over to me, picked me up, and threw me over his shoulder. He was laughing, and while he was distracted, I used the advantage.

I flipped out of his hold and knocked him to the ground. I pinned his arms over his head, but he was still laughing. I found out why when he flipped, fast as lightning, and was now pinning me to the ground. Now I laughed, too. I couldn't beat him at anything.

Meanwhile, Becca was standing up against a tree, looking at us wide-eyed. Jacob laughed and got up. He extended his arm to me, and I grasped it while he pulled me up from the ground. "Sorry, Becca," he said.

Rebecca slowly advanced towards us, keeping her eyes on me the whole time.

"Really, Rebecca, I wouldn't…_couldn't _hurt you," I pledged.

She looked a tiny bit relieved, but still kept her distance. "Can we go back to the house now, Jake?" she asked him timidly.

"Yeah, Becca, come on," he led us back to the house.

When we got to the house and Becca had calmed down a bit, she asked, "So, why aren't you two actually dating or married or something?"

I felt my cheeks get hotter at the question, so I looked away, hiding my face with my hair. Thankfully, Jake answered. "It's because Nessie's only almost seven."

"Wait…_seven_? She looks seventeen!" she exclaimed.

"I'll look like this for, well, basically the rest of my life," I told her.

I heard her mutter enviously, "Lucky." I smiled.

After we had talked about and explained things for a while, I looked at the time on my phone. "Jake! It's nine-thirty!" I nearly shouted.

"What? Really? Crap! Your dad's going to kill me…" he stood up off the couch and I followed suit.

"Wait, why do you two have to go?" Becca asked.

"We have to go because Jake and I are going to school tomorrow!" I beamed at the thought.

"Um, Jake, aren't you a little too old for school now?" Becca asked.

"Yeah… But it was the only way Ness could go, so I agreed," he looked at me. "She probably would have talked me into going, anyway."

I smiled angelically at him. "Yeah, you're probably right. We should go. I promised Esme we'd be back before dark. And it's already after dark. Dang it!" I said, looking out the window into the twilight.

"Sorry, Becca, but we've got to go…vampire rules…" he rolled his eyes, and I smacked his arm. "Hey!" he exclaimed.

Becca laughed. "That's okay, Jake. See you…when I see you." She stood up too and gave Jacob a hug. "Bye, Jake. Love you."

Jacob hugged her back. "Bye, Becca. See you later. Tell Dad we said goodbye. And love you, too." Billy was at Grandpa Charlie's, as he usually was nowadays.

"Will do," Becca said, releasing Jake as she spoke, only to embrace me. "Bye, Ness. I'll assume I'll see you whenever I see Jake from now on, too," she smiled.

"Yeah, probably," I said, smiling too. "Bye, Becca."

She released me and waved to Jake and me as we walked out the door and into the woods, and we waved back.

Jacob disappeared into the trees, coming back as a wolf. I climbed onto his back, holding in tight as we sped home. We got there a little quicker this time, for I didn't have to stop or have Jake slow down.

When we got home, of course my dad was waiting. To lecture us, no doubt.

"Renesmee, you need to get to bed. You have a big day tomorrow," my dad said, voice flat. "You, too, Jacob."

We followed his directions and we both headed up the stairs to our rooms. Alice let us have the two small rooms next to each other, even though my dad was opposed to the idea. I swear, he gets way too paranoid.

I said goodnight to Jake as he went as he entered his room, and I entered my room, too. I had finally gotten my room painted. It was now a little darker than sky blue on two walls, and lime green on the other two. It had sort of a tropical theme. But, the carpet stayed its off-white color.

I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed, eager for sleep to take over and help pass the time so I could wake in the morning and go to school after waiting almost my entire life.


	9. Going to School

**A/N: i really hope you don't find this chapter awkward... and sorry if you do... :) and sorry it took me so long to wrte it. I'm getting behind... (whoopsies!) I'll try to write the next chapter as quick as i can. Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 9: Going to School**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

I woke up to the excited face of Alice. She was beaming at me. Of course, she was trying to pick me out an outfit for school.

Wait…_school_? School! I'll _finally _be able to go to school!

I immediately shot out of bed and ran to the bathroom to start getting ready. The bathroom was connected to my room, so that was personalized in my style, too. I had painted the walls and placed scented incense.

I took a shower and brushed my teeth. Then I got dressed into a stylish outfit the Alice had picked out for me. It was a pair of tight jeans and a striped black and gray flowing tank top with a white jacket with sleeves that went to my elbows over it. I had to admit, it was pretty cute. I think Alice had not only picked out my clothes, but everyone else's as well, including Jake's, even though he complained to no end…

When I was done dressing, it had been about thirty minutes since I woke up. Since I had time to spare, I decided to do something more creative with my hair. I tried many different styles, but finally ended up with two small braids on the sides of my head meeting back into a small ponytail.

I went downstairs then, pleased to smell breakfast cooking. I saw Jake sitting at the kitchen table, and I could see that Alice had won the argument over what he was going to wear; she always won. Instead of Jake's usual cut-off jeans and a T-shirt, he was wearing a Polo shirt with khaki, shin-length shorts. He actually looked…well, a little bit…hotter…

_Stop_! my mind screamed at me.

I slightly shook my head and walked over to the seat next to Jacob.

"Hey, high schooler," he greeted, smiling.

I smiled back at him brilliantly. "Hey!" I sat down and Esme laid a plate of scrambled eggs in front of me. "Thanks, Grandma," I said, and then I started eating.

Jake was done eating before me, as usual, but he stayed there until I was finished.

When I was done, I went out to the living room where the rest of my family was waiting.

"Dad, can we go now?" I asked eagerly.

He laughed. "Sure. It's about time to go, anyway." He led the way out to the cars, which we were taking only two of. We were taking Edward's silver Volvo and Emmett's Jeep.

Jake and I crawled into the backseat of the Volvo as Edward sat in the driver's seat and Bella sat gracefully in the passenger seat. We all set our backpacks in the middle of the backseat.

My dad started the car and began driving down the long driveway, but it wasn't as long as our old house in Forks was.

"Do you remember the story, Ness?" Bella asked.

"Yep. I'm your cousin and my last name is Dwyer," I had to take my Grandma Renée's husband's name. Even though I would have preferred something else, basically anything else. "We were all adopted by Gra—I mean, 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Rose and Jasper are actual siblings, brother and sister, and Dad, I mean Edward, and Emmett are cousins. Alice is Jacob's step-sister, but their parents died in a house fire when they were at school, so we took them in. That good enough?"

Edward laughed. "Yes, Nessie."

We got to the school in about ten minutes. It wasn't a huge school, but it wasn't as small as the one in Forks, according to my parents.

Before the car was even parked, I had opened the door and climbed out of the backseat. Jake laughed and got out of the car, too. He handed me my book bag and purse because I forgot to get them in my haste.

"Thanks," I said. We were some of the first people there. Student-wise, anyway.

When the rest of my family got there, we walked, at a slow, human pace I might add, to the front doors. We then went to the office to get our schedules. My dad went up to the counter.

"Hello, Ms. Maylin. I'm Edward Cullen. I'm here to get our schedules, please," he said in a charming voice, without even trying, looking back at us briefly. I saw a smile on his lips. She must be thinking something funny.

Ms. Maylin was fairly young. She looked to be late twenties or early thirties. She had long, wavy blonde hair and green eyes. I was curious about what she was thinking, so I opened my mind to her.

…_He's too young for me! He's only seventeen, and I'm thirty-two. He's almost two times younger than me…_

I stopped listening then, trying not to laugh as it was.

When we had all gotten our class schedules, I skipped down the halls to my assigned locker. I smiled when I saw that Jacob's locker was right next to mine on the right. But that smile faded a bit when I saw my dad open the locker right next to mine on the left. This school year was going to be interesting…

In a short time, other students got to school, too. Pretty soon the hallways were flooded with students trying to find their lockers and their classes.

Jacob and I had our first class together, as well as all the rest. Rosalie was in this class with us, too, which I'm sure she was just thrilled about. When we got to the classroom, we took two seats next to each other in the back, but Rose stayed near the front, to stay away from Jacob, presumably. Soon, other students started filing in. Only, instead of sitting at their desks, many of the boys were crowded around _my_ desk.

"Hey. I'm Dylan. Who're you?" one guy—Dylan, apparently—asked.

"I'm…Renesmee," I answered, deciding not to use my full name.

"Hey, Renesmee," he repeated.

"You already said that," I said. From the side of my view, I could see Jacob glowering at Dylan but trying not to grin. Rosalie actually smiled a bit.

"Yeah, I know, sorry…" Dylan said, avoiding my eyes.

"Okay, so, what do you want?" I asked impatiently.

"Well, I, um…wanted to know if you, uh, wanted to go out with me?" he asked nervously. It was meant as a statement, but came out as a question.

"Um…no, thanks," I responded politely, focusing my attention back on Jake, who I was talking to before the guys came over to my desk.

"What, why?" he asked, dumb-founded.

"Because I don't really want to go out with you, sorry," I said, a little angered by his rudeness.

"Are you kidding me? I've _never _been turned down before," he stated, voice rough. His crème colored skin had turned a little red, and his blue eyes were beginning to narrow at me. He had dirty-blonde, shaggy hair, and to other girls, he might have been cute, or even hot, but to me, no one could compare to my Jacob.

"Well, now you have. Sorry," I said, voice sharp.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "By the end of this week, I'll make you love me. Count on it," he bet.

"Really? Because right now, you're just annoying the hell out of me," I said, looking him straight in the eyes.

This time, Jacob couldn't contain his laughter. When he laughed, Dylan glared daggers at him. Rosalie just smiled and giggled a little.

"Oh, so, that's funny, is it?" Dylan asked, intimidating. Dylan was tall, but not as tall as Jake, and muscular.

"Yes, yes it is," Jacob said, still smiling.

"Really? Because I don't think it will be when you're sitting in the hospital for weeks," Dylan challenged. Rose rolled her eyes, still not intervening.

Jake was still smiling. "You _really _think you can beat me up?" he asked.

"No, I _know_ I can beat you up. And when I do, your girlfriend," he said, looking at me, "won't think you're all tough anymore. She'll love _me_."

"Good luck with that," I mumbled.

Jacob stopped smiling. Uh-oh. He challenged Jake. That's never good. I suddenly felt sorry for the human boy.

Jacob stood up, and he seemed like he towered over Dylan, though he was only a few inches taller. "Trust me. You will _never_ beat me in anything that has to do with fighting. And you'll _never _get Renesmee to fall in love with you, either." Dylan seemed to cower a little under Jacob's glare. Rose, despite her dislike for Jacob, silently chuckled at Dylan's false toughness.

Finally, the teacher came in and the student crowd around my desk dispersed.

"Hello, class. My name is Mr. Chasey. I'm your English teacher…" Mr. Chasey rambled on with his speech.

I didn't hear much of what he had to say, but Mr. Chasey seemed nice. He was medium-heighted, tan-skinned, and green-eyed. He looked to be in his late thirties. He also had a pretty good sense of humor.

Meanwhile, pretty much all of the boy's eyes were on me, but a couple were on Rose. Jake and I were seated in the back, so I could tell. They were all looking at me like, well, like some obsessed fan looks at a celebrity. I think that, literally, every single guy in the class, save for Jacob and Mr. Chasey, were looking at me or Rosalie with day dreaming, love struck eyes.

But the girls were different. Except for Rose, they were all looking at _Jake_. This made me _extremely _envious. In fact, by the end of Mr. Chasey's speech, there were new dents in the legs of both me and Jake's chairs, both from jealousy.

It was now time to introduce ourselves to the class. Mr. Chasey started in the front, so Jake and I would go last. The girl in the front of the class reluctantly stopped looking at Jake when the teacher called on her. She stood up.

""Please say your name, first and last, and one thing you like to do," Mr. Chasey instructed.

The girl in the front said, "My name is Teresa Platt. I like to play volleyball." Teresa had brown, poker straight hair that went to her shoulders, and she was pretty tall for a girl. She had blue eyes and was wearing a short-sleeved, low-cut shirt with a camisole underneath, and Capri's. She sat back down.

The next person stood up. It was a boy this time. "My name is Ryan Miller, and I like to play baseball." Ryan was pretty tall, and he was handsome in his way, but once again, nothing compared to Jacob. His reddish-brown hair and semi-muscular body was nothing like Jacob. And Jacob is the only one I want, the only one I'll ever want.

The introductions went on, and finally it was my turn. I stood up gracefully. "My name is Renesmee Dwyer, and I like to…hike," I said. I didn't have many hobbies, and I don't think riding on the back of a giant wolf counted. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jake grin at me. I sat back down.

Jake stood up. All of the female eyes followed him, focusing on his perfectly sculpted chest, even though they couldn't see it. But still, the shirt was still sort of tight…

_Dang it, Alice! _I thought. Why did she have to have him wear such sexy clothes?

"I'm Jacob Black, and I like to run," he sat back down. I smiled at him and gave a tiny eye roll.

Mr. Chasey was talking again. "Okay. Now that we have all introduced ourselves, I want you to get a partner that you aren't friends with and talk to them, find out more about them. Okay? Go find a partner."

Before I knew it, I was swarmed by boys again, and Jake was swarmed by all the girls in class except Rose and me.

I heard a chorus of, "Renesmee, do you want to be my partner?"

I stood up from my desk so I didn't start to feel claustrophobic. I saw the guy named Ryan standing towards the back of the boy crowd, so I walked over to him and asked, "Do you want to be my partner, Ryan?"

"S-sure…" he stuttered, obviously surprised. All the rest of the boys dispersed, looking rejected, and I sat back down at my desk. Ryan pulled the desk in front of me beside me, and sat down as well.

Jacob had chosen his partner; a red-headed girl. I think her name was Lisa, but I wasn't sure. She had pulled her desk closer to Jacob than necessary, and that made me angry. But I could see Jacob leaning away from her a bit, and that made me feel a little better. Rose's partner was a blonde-haired tall boy named Alex.

"So…" started Ryan. I turned my attention back to him.

"Um, my name's Renesmee, but you probably remembered that," I stated awkwardly. I wasn't used to talking to guys unless they sparkled in sunlight or ran on four legs.

"Yeah, I remembered. My name's Ryan. I play baseball. It's really the only sport I play now. I used to play others, but I wanted to focus on baseball," he told me.

"Cool. What position do you play?" I asked. I knew some things about baseball—the basics—but anything beyond knowing what a full count is was beyond me. But I did know the player positions.

"I mainly play first base, but, if the team needed me to, I could pitch, too. Do you play any sports?" he asked.

"No, not really. I like to run, like Jacob, and I guess that could count as a sport, but other than that, I haven't really played many sports. Well, I have played baseball quite a few times, but not on a team or anything," I said. When my family and I lived in Forks, we used to play baseball during thunderstorms sometimes.

"Cool. What positions did you play?"

"I played, well, basically all the positions. Pitcher, first base, catcher…" I named.

He smiled, showing a set of white, pearly teeth. "That's cool. But, you haven't played any other sports in gym or anything?"

"No. I was homeschooled up until this year. All of my family was, well, except my parents, of course," I said.

"Oh. Wow. So is…um, Jacob related to you?" he asked nervously.

"Well, technically no, but we have the same adoptive parents… We're not, like, blood related or anything," I said awkwardly.

"So…does that mean that you two are dating or something? Sorry if I'm being too personal. You don't have to tell me…" he babbled.

"No, Jake and I aren't dating," I said quickly.

"Oh," he looked surprised. "So…does that mean that you, uh, don't have a boyfriend?"

"Ryan, is this your way of asking me out?" I questioned.

He blushed a little. "Um…yeah."

I smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ryan. But I don't really want a boyfriend right now," I said gently. It was a small lie, but I wouldn't tell him, or anyone for that matter, that. "Maybe some other time…" I lied again.

He looked visibly upset, though he tried to hide it. "No, that's okay, Renesmee," he said.

After a few more minutes of talking, the bell rang. I said goodbye to Ryan and gathered my stuff. I then walked back to my locker with Jacob to put my academic supplies away so I could go to gym with him.

"Well, that was interesting," I told him.

"Yup," he agreed.

My dad appeared at his locker a few seconds later. He rolled his eyes.

"Stupid human girls," he mumbled. Then he looked at me and Jake. "Do you know how indecent their thoughts are?"

Jacob rolled his eyes, too. "Yup. Only some actually say them out loud."

"How about the boys? They drool over me like a freaking rabid animal!" I exclaimed.

Edward laughed. "Hmmm, now who does that remind me of?" he looked at Jake.

"D-Edward! That's mean," I said, shutting my locker.

He laughed. "But true."

I mumbled, "Jacob's not rabid."

Edward then mumbled mockingly, "Just like I'm not venomous."

I smacked him as hard as I could, knowing it would have little effect on him and also that he couldn't react "fatherly" in public.

Edward just rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get to gym," he said. He and Jacob shut their lockers.

"Wait, you have the same class as me and Jake next?"

"Yep," he answered, and started down the hallway.

Once again, all eyes followed us three. Boy eyes on me, girl eyes darting between Edward and Jacob.

My father made a disgusted face, which made me wonder what one of the humans was thinking. I opened my mind to, well, basically everyone in the hallway. And yes, I _did _hear some _very_ indecent thoughts. Ones that my uncle Emmett wouldn't even think of. I heard one particular thought that made me want to rip a girls head off. Literally. Of course it was about Jacob.

_That slutty Renesmee chick needs to lay off Jacob. Because Jacob _will _be mine. By the end of the year, I'll have that freak Renesmee off all alone and Jacob will be with me, not her. He's so freaking sexy… I wonder how he looks shirtless… or with nothing at all… By the end of the year, I _will_ find out. I'll steal Jacob away from her, make him be bored with her, wait until he gets tired of her…_ she thought.

If only she knew how long she was going to have to wait for Jacob to get tired of me.

**A/N: (Sorry if you find that last thought awkward. i needed it to be 'bite her head off' worthy) :D**


	10. Pretend Crush

**A/N: sorry it took me so long to post! but i did write two other chapters. :D once i type those, i'll post them. Sorry about typos in the other chapters. I'll fix those! I hope you like this chapter and dont find it awkward. (wow, i always say that...) Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 10: Pretend Crush**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV:**

I headed to the gym with white knuckles. By the time I unclenched my fist, there were _very _deep fingernail marks in my palm. Jacob noticed them.

"Whoa, Ness, what…?" he said, brow furrowing at my hand.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. "Nothing," I growled. The calming down didn't work.

"Ness, you're a bad liar, just like your mom," he told me.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you. Well, I…" I started to whisper faster. "I read some minds in the hallway. And…I, um, I heard some little bit—" I started to get angry again.

He cut me off. "Renesmee, stop. Calm down. Just tell me what you heard," he instructed.

I took a deep breath. "She thought about _you_. She thought…" giving up, I laid my palm against his cheek and replayed what I "heard". As I projected this thought, I saw his eyes widen and a disgusted look across his face.

He reached up and took my palm away from his face. He shuddered. "Ew."

"Exactly. Now you know why I'm so jealous and pissed," I said heatedly. We were sitting on the bleachers in the gym, and my dad was on the other end of them, by my mom. Apparently my mom had gym with us, too.

"Wait, you're jealous?" he asked.

I shrugged, sort of embarrassed. "Yeah, a little bit…" I admitted.

He looked at me oddly. "So what, you want to get me into bed with you, too?"

My eyes widened. I looked away from him. I could feel myself blush. "No…" I said awkwardly.

He smiled a bit. "I was joking."

"Oh."

He looked very uncomfortable. After a long silence, he laughed a little. "Wow, Ness," he said, shaking his head. Then he was serious. "Renesmee, she's _never_ going to get me…like, uh, that. I promise. I'm never going to be hers, okay? I'm already _yours,_" he pledged, beautiful brown eyes smoldering.

"I know," I said quietly. "It just made me a little mad, that's all."

I looked toward the wooden gym doors only to see the little dyed blonde haired, blue eyed slut that thought about _my_ Jacob walk through them. She was wearing a _very_ tight red shirt, skinny jeans, and flip-flops. I was instantly filled with hatred and rage.

"Jake, hold me back, please," I whispered menacingly without meaning to.

He pulled me onto his lap and put an arm around my waist.

"Thanks," I said, a little bit calmer.

"No problem," he said, looking towards the doors. He spotted the girl. "Her?" he asked.

I followed his gaze. "Yep," I said venomously.

He hugged me a little. "Relax, Ness. It's alright."

The girl glared at me as she walked to the bleachers, and I glared back. "I. Hate, Her," I said viciously.

"Hey, do you want to mess with her? It'll be fun," he said eagerly.

"Mess with her how?" I asked curiously.

"Mess with her like I pretend to like her then break her heart," he smiled evilly.

"As fun as the ending sounds, I wouldn't be able to live through the rest," I told him.

"Alright. Then What do you want me to do? Because she's coming up here."

"Just…avoid her or something. Be rude to her. She'll eventually leave you alone…hopefully…" I said, a little doubtful.

"How about a little bit of both of them?" he questioned deviously.

I sighed. "Sure, whatever. But be rude to her _now,_ please And please don't overdo it, either," I begged.

"Don't worry. I won't. But what exactly is 'overdoing it' in this situation?" he asked.

"Well, you know… None of…_that_. And please, if you value my sanity, no kissing over five seconds, if you must," I pleaded.

"Okay, just to let you know, there was never going to be any of _that_ in the first place. And if I had my way, there would be no kissing at all. But that's not a very good heartbreaker..." he trailed.

A few seconds later, the stupid girl came up to our row of bleachers and sat right next to Jake. Too close. She flipped her hair and puffed out her chest. She smiled at him. "Hi, you're Jacob, right?"

He nodded.

"Cool. I love your name…" she smiled again. "My name is Veronica."

I tried not to sneer at her or look jealous. I didn't want to give her that satisfaction.

"Hi. What did you come over here for exactly?" Jacob asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to say hi," she said in a innocent voice.

"Okay…hi," Jake said, then turned his attention back to me.

"Hey, do you work out?" Veronica asked.

"Sometimes," Jake answered. He actually didn't, but there was no other legal way to explain his muscles.

"Cool!" she smiled. "Where do you go to work out?"

"Home," he said, expressionless.

"Oh, cool. So you have a home gym or something? That's really cool," she said animatedly.

"Yeah. _Our _home gym is really cool, isn't it, Jake?" I asked, adding an emphasis on "our".

"Yes, it is," he agreed, looking and smiling at me.

A brief flash of jealousy crossed veronica's face, but it was gone soon.

"Jacob," my father said, suddenly, or to me, anyway, sitting beside me and Jake.

Jake, knowing what my father meant, slid me off his lap and onto the bleachers.

I put my palm on Edward's arm, projecting Jake's plan for Veronica, and what she thought about him in the hallway.

Edward said softly and disgustedly, "Oh."

I said, lower than any human could hear through unmoving lips, "Can we pretend?"

My father thought for a minute, took a deep breath, and said, "Fine."

"Thanks," I said, then climbed back onto Jacob's lap. I threw my arms across his neck and laid my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I knew my father was regretting his answer now, but oh well.

Veronica glared at me, eyes filled with such hatred it was a wonder she didn't have steam pouring out of her ears.

Wanting to give her that look back but not want to look jealous and insecure, I started to project memories of me and human Jake, my goal making her envious.

My dad "heard" me think of this and said sternly, "Renesmee."

I sighed and stopped sending my thoughts.

Veronica looked questioningly at me but then turned back to Jake.

"So, what do you like to do?" she asked, voice a little suggestive.

Jake tried to hold back a look of disgust and said with no emotion whatsoever, "Run."

"You like to run? That's awesome! Do you run track?" she babbled.

"No," Jacob responded.

"Oh, you should. Guys who run track are hot," she said.

"No, I don't think I will," Jake said.

"Are you going to play any sports?"

"Nope," he said, making a popping sound when he pronounced the "p".

"Oh. Well, I'm not going to, either, unless cheerleading counts."

"Cool."

She smiled. Then her expression turned neutral. "So, are you two dating?" she asked, eyes narrowed at me.

"Nope, they're not," my father answered.

I looked at him questioningly and he said quietly, "Trust me."

"Oh. Well, you two sure look like you are," she said sharply.

"So?" I challenged. "Why did you need to know?"

"Because. Jacob's hot," she said, and looked back to Jake. "You're _really_ sexy, Jacob. And muscular," she told him, running her hand down his arm.

Jacob tried not to pull away.

"So…do you want to go out with me, Jacob? Please…?" she asked pathetically, batting her eyelashes.

"I'll think about it," he said roughly. This killed him. And me too, for that matter.

"Cool! So, I'll talk to you later…?" she asked.

He shrugged. "That depends."

"Can I come by your house later so we can…um…talk?" she asked.

Jacob took a deep, calming breath and said reluctantly, "Sure."

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. Then she went to hug him, "accidentally" pushing me off his lap and onto the bleachers. When she touched his skin, she recoiled immediately. "Oh my God. You…you really are hot."

"Yes, yes he is," I agreed, both sweetly and sourly.

Jacob smiled at me and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, so , I'll see you later, alright, Jacob?" Veronica asked.

"Sure, sure," he said.

"Bye, Jacob," she fluttered a wave and her voice was thick with lust, just pure lust. She walked away to go join her friends, who immediately started giggling.

"That little slut," I muttered.

"Language, Renesmee," my father warned.

"Well, can you blame me?" I questioned heatedly.

"No…" my father replied.

"Don't worry, Ness. You know I'm just pretending. I don't _actually_ like her. But I do _actually_ hate her. She's lucky I didn't break her plastic nose right then," he said, smiling _my _Jacob's smile.

I smiled back, laughed once, and shook my head. "Wow, Jake."

We got through the rest of our classes without much drama. Of course, Jake and I both got asked out countless times.

When it came time for lunch, Jake and I left social studies class with Alice prancing behind us.

We were the last ones to get to our table for lunch; the rest of my family was already there.

I sat between my mom and Jacob. He had an empty seat next to him, and, of course, Stalker Veronica walked over and sat down, uninvited.

"Hey, Jacob!" she exclaimed. "I missed you…"

"You know I haven't answered your question yet, right?" he said.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I already know your answer…" she smiled seductively and scooted her chair closer to his, running her hand over his arm.

While Veronica was looking away, Emmett fake gagged. I laughed in spite of my anger for Veronica.

Meanwhile, Veronica was glaring at me the moment I made a noise. "Something funny?" she asked with false sweetness.

"Nope, nothing at all," I replied, even sweeter. When she turned away, I said, low enough for just my family to hear, "Just your obviously stuffed bra."

This time, everyone tried to stifle their laughter, but it didn't work. Jake didn't even try to hide it; he just started dying laughing at her.

"Jakey, what's so funny?" she asked, totally oblivious. I bristled when she called _my _Jacob _my _old name for him.

Jacob did a little, too. "Don't call me that," he ordered.

"Why not, Jakey?" she asked innocently.

"Because I don't want _you _to call me that."

I smiled triumphantly.

"Oh, but Renesmee's allowed to, right?" she guessed accusingly. My smile grew wider at her growing jealousy.

"Yes, she is," Jacob said, unashamed.

The lunch assistant in the cafeteria, Mrs. Laster, called our row to go get lunch from the lunch line.

"Come on, _Jakey_, let's go get lunch," I said, pulling him from the table.

He smiled and followed me. But, of course, just like a little puppy dog—no pun intended—Veronica followed Jake to the line.

He piled his tray with food, just like I'd expected, but I only got a small entrée and a bottled water.

We paid and got back to our table. After a few minutes of picking at her salad, Veronica looked around the table and asked Jake, who was still eating, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your family?"

Jacob swallowed and said, "Yeah, sure." He looked at Bella and went around the table. "This is Bella, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and of course, Renesmee," he introduced, eyes landing on me.

"Nice to meet all of you," she said sweetly, looking at everyone at the table except me. "I'm Veronica. Veronica Kaplan."

"Hi," everyone said in unison, except me and Jake.

I had just finished eating, and Jacob was almost done.

"I'm thirsty," he said when he had finished. He had chugged his water a while ago.

I still had some of my water left, so I set it in front of him right as Veronica did. "Here you go," we both said simultaneously.

He picked up my water bottle, no doubt in an attempt to make Veronica jealous. He took a few gulps of it and handed it back to me. "Thanks, Ness."

"No problem, Jake," I said.

Jacob's plan worked. Veronica was seething, trying to hide it. It didn't work out all that well.

Everyone at our table got up to go empty their trays; my vampire family's still full.

"Shouldn't we have left her by the trash?" I whispered to Jake on the way back to our table.

He laughed and whispered, "I was thinking the same thing."

Veronica, once again, was talking to Jake non-stop.

"Hey, Jake, can I just ride home with you so I can actually know where your house is and then you could drive me back here to pick up my car…?" she said, winking at the end.

Emmett faux-gagged again. I grinned at him.

"Um…sure…but you're going to have to ride in a car with Edward, Bella, and Renesmee, too. I didn't drive here by myself."

"Oh…" her peppy attitude faltered a little. "Well, you can drive my car to your house."

"Okay. Then you drive yourself home," he said with a hint of rudeness. Hey, I couldn't blame him.

"Nevermind. I'll ride in the same car as everyone else," she said a little reluctantly.

The bell rang, announcing sixth period. Jake and I headed to Spanish class. Veronica tagged along, too, clinging to Jake like a slug. Jacob obviously hated it, but he played along.

When we got to the classroom door, Veronica parted with Jake with lovey-dovey goodbyes.

We walked through the door, seeing Emmett sitting at one of the desks. When we were out of hearing range from Veronica, Jacob said exasperatedly, "Finally!"

I smiled at him. "Hey, it was your idea. You could have just ignored her like I wanted you to."

"I know, but that wouldn't be as heartbreaking for her in the long run," he said, smiling deviously.

"You're so evil, Jake," I said sarcastically.

He grinned at me.

We sat down at two desks near the back, and Jake sat next to Emmett. There was an empty seat next to me.

I was so busy talking to Jacob and Emmett that I didn't see Ryan sit next to me. I looked over and saw him. I smiled. "Hi, Ryan," I greeted.

He smiled back at me brightly. "Hi, Renesmee."

"Who do you have for homeroom?" I asked him.

"I have Mrs. Hughes. How about you?"

"I have her, too," I smiled, honestly happy.

"Cool. Do you want to walk to class with me?" he asked, a little nervous.

The smile stayed on my face. "Of course."

Ryan's face exploded with happiness. "Cool!" he exclaimed, obviously excited.

I didn't know what it was about Ryan, but it was fun and natural to be around him, fun to talk to him, like Jake was. Plus, he didn't look at me like the other guys did. He didn't look like he wanted to use me for one day and be done with me or anything like that. He looked past that. He liked my personality. I knew this because I, um, sort of read his mind…

I decided to read it again.

…_She's so amazing and beautiful. I don't know why she's waiting for Jacob. From the way Veronica Kaplan hangs all over him, you would've thought she would have given up already. Why can't she give me a chance? If only she would…_

I stopped listening. In a way, he was right. I wasn't allowed to date Jacob yet, but my dad said nothing about a human. And I did sort of like Ryan, just not like the way I like Jake. And if Jacob gets to date in high school, so would I.

I turned to face Ryan. "Ryan, um…do you want to go out with me?" I asked him.

He looked surprised. _Really _surprised. His mouth dropped open, forming a little "o" shape. "Yeah. Yes, yes, of course," he said, a brilliant, bright smile painted all over his face.

I smiled back at him. "Cool. Thanks. Do you want to come over to my house tonight, like, after school?"

His smile grew. "Yes. Only I don't know where you live…"

"You can follow Edward's car to my house. I would offer you a ride, but the car's already filled up."

"Okay. Or…I could give you a ride to your house and you can tell me where it is," he suggested.

"Yeah, sure, of course. That's a good idea. I'll need to tell Edward or Bella first, though."

A confused expression crossed his face. "Why?" he asked.

"Well, Edward would want to know. He's the really protective, big brother type."

"Oh, okay," he answered, dropping the subject.

I turned back to the front of the class where the teacher was entering through the door. I also saw Jake looking at me with a disbelieving, questioning expression. I turned towards him.

"What?" I whispered.

He just looked at me.

"Well, are you going to tell me or not?" I asked quietly.

"What the hell?" he asked, not bothering to whisper. Half the class looked back at him, but the teacher kept talking, ignoring him.

Emmett wasn't helping anything. He was shaking with silent laughter.

"What?" I still whispered.

He quickly looked at Ryan then back at me.

"So?" I asked.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he turned back to the front of the room. He looked a little sad and upset, actually.

I sighed.

When the class was over, I walked to math class with Ryan, just like I told him I would. We stopped at both of our lockers, so it took me longer than usual to get to class.

We stopped by my locker first, and it turns out that Ryan's locker was in the same row as mine, probably since we had the same homeroom. Of course, we ran into Jake at my locker. I also got questioning, stern looks from my father, probably in response to Ryan's thoughts.

We finally all went to class. But, instead of picking our own seats, there was a seating chart at the front of the classroom, and our names on our desks. I could tell that the seats were in locker order, because I wasn't next to Ryan. But I _was_ sandwiched in between Jacob and my father. What a glorious combination. Ha-ha. Not.

I got questioning looks from them the whole class period. So, when the bell finally rang, I quickly gathered my stuff and hurried to meet Ryan at his desk.

"Hey," he said to me, grinning as I approached.

I beamed back at him. "Hey! Ready to go?" I asked, eager to leave.

He chuckled a little at my sudden peppiness. "Yes, Renesmee, I'm ready to go," he said is he picked up his stuff.

"Oh, you don't have to call me Renesmee. Call me Nessie. Or Ness. Whichever you prefer."

"Okay…Ness," he said. "Come on, let's go."

We stopped by our lockers and packed up. Then we walked together out to the parking lot and found his car. I climbed into the passenger seat and Ryan climed into the driver's seat. He started the car, off to drive to my house.

Wow, there was going to be a lot of tension…


	11. Arguments and Explanations

**A/N: Sorry I've been so behind on posting lately. :C But i hope you like this chapter! I'm about to start typing chapter 12 and hen I'll start writing chapter 13. Sorry if this chapter is uncomfortable-feeling. Same with chapter 12... (I know, I know, I always say that... But i just want to make sure!) Thanks for reading! :D**

**Chapter 11: Arguments and Explanations **

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

I was sitting in the passenger seat of Ryan's car. It was a convertible, something I've never rode in before because of my sparkly family.

"This is so cool!" I said enthusiastically.

He laughed. "It was my sixteenth birthday present," he informed me.

"Awesome!" I said.

"So, do you drive a car?" he asked.

"No…" I admitted. "I don't have my license yet…"

"You don't?" he asked, surprised.

"No. My dad won't let me get one yet," I said grudgingly.

"Oh. That sucks," he said. He wasn't bragging; he's not like that. He was sympathizing.

I kept directing him to my house, and we got there a few minutes later.

We pulled up the long driveway and Ryan parked by the garage. The rest of my family was already here, though. I opened the car door and climbed out. Ryan came around to my side of the car and I led him inside the house.

"Wow, Ness, your house is beautiful," Ryan admired.

I smiled. "Thanks."

Veronica was practically sitting on Jacob's lap, arms around his neck. Everybody else was sitting on the other couches or in another room. But when I walked in, Jake, who was pretending to like Veronica at the moment, turned his attention to me.

I said hi to Carlisle and Esme, who I called "mom" and "dad", and sat down on the couch with Ryan.

"Hi…" I said awkwardly to Bella as she stared at me and Ryan.

"Hello, Renesmee…" she responded.

Ryan was sitting awkwardly next to me, so I decided to introduce him to my family.

"Um… Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Ryan," I said, trying not to look at Jake's hurt expression. "Ryan, this is Edward, Bella, Alice, Rosalie, and Jacob," I said, going around the room. "Jasper and Emmett are—"

"Hiking," my father interrupted.

"Yeah," I agreed.

Everybody was staring at us, and I could tell Ryan was getting very uncomfortable.

I stood up. "Come on, Ryan." I took his hand and he stood up. I pulled him towards the stairs.

"Renesmee, where are you going?" my father asked sternly.

"My room, where do you think?" I responded, heading up the stairs. Since I could feel his glare, I added the thought, _We're not going to do anything._

He relaxed a bit but not fully. _Tell Jacob that, _he forced into my brain.

I sighed and thought sourly, _He's sort of busy with his girlfriend._

_You know he's pretending. You're not pretending. You're hurting him. _

_Just like he's hurting me, _I countered.

_Yes, maybe, but you agreed with him on that. You didn't even ask him about Ryan, _he retorted.

_Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when Edward Cullen would defend Jacob Black instead of his own daughter, _I thought. I was done listening now. I ignored every other thought he sent to me, and gave him no reply.

Ryan and I were upstairs now, and I led him to my room. I opened the door and sat down on the couch. Yes, my room was _very _big, though it was one of the smaller rooms. Ryan said that.

"Oh my God. You're room is huge," he said, appalled.

I laughed a little. "Yeah, it is."

He sat next to me. "So…I'm _really _your boyfriend now?" he asked.

I smiled at him. "Yes, you are."

He smiled back. "Good."

We were still talking to each other when I heard Jake's voice from downstairs.

"I'll be right back," he said to Veronica. He stood up, and Veronica fell off his lap and onto the couch. I heard him coming up the stairs.

I decided to sit on Ryan's lap. He looked _very_ surprised.

A few seconds later, Jacob threw the door open and walked over to the couch. "Renesmee, I need to talk to you," he ordered in a hard voice.

Ryan looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it.

"No," I said stubbornly. "I'm with my boyfriend, and you should be with your girlfriend."

"Renesmee. Now," he demanded.

"No!" I screeched.

He took my hand, surprisingly gentle for his anger, and pulled me to the door.

I struggled, trying to get free with all my strength. But of course, he barely had to try to contain me. "Let me go, Jacob!"

"I'll let you go once I talk to you," he told me.

He pulled me through the door and down the stairs. I could hear Ryan get up and start to descend down the stairs, too, but he stopped in the living room. Jacob, however, continued to pull me through the front door and into the trees.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked angrily.

"Here," he said, stopping. He still restrained me.

"What do you want?" I demanded furiously.

He stood silent for a few moments, and then exploded with fury. "What the hell, Renesmee? Why the hell are you dating Ryan? You didn't even ask me! At least I _asked _you about Veronica! And I wasn't even serious about that! But you seem serious about dating Ryan! Why the hell would you do this to me?"

"Oh, am I hurting you, Jacob? Oh, I'm so sorry because, you know, watching Veronica crawl all over you and glorify you is just so easy for me to watch! And I shouldn't need to ask _you_ if I wanted to date Ryan! You're not my father!" I erupted, too.

"I know I'm not, but you didn't even ask _him_!" he yelled, trembling.

"Well, I'm sorry! Next time, I'll ask _him_," I retorted.

"_Next time_? No! There won't be a next time! Because Ryan will be your only high school boyfriend," he said heatedly.

"Okay. He'll be my _only _boyfriend," I said. The pained, devastated expression on his face told me he caught the meaning of my words.

"Ness…" was all he could choke out.

"What?" I said, angry at myself, but trying to hide it.

"You…you don't really mean that, do you?" he asked, both hope and doubt in his voice.

I nodded slowly, avoiding his eyes. "Yes, I mean it, Jacob." And to a certain, twisted extent, I did. I didn't want to be his girlfriend.

He started trembling faster, his shape blurring, but he tried to keep control. "Why, Renesmee? Why do you mean it?"

"Because, I don't want to be your girlfriend. _Veronica's _your girlfriend. I—" I started to say, but then a tearing sound cut through the air, and Jacob was no longer in front of me, a wolf was. The wolf looked sad, angry, hurt, betrayed, and ashamed all at the same time.

Then the wolf dashed away.

"Jake," I called in a weak, almost strangled voice. Tears were blinding me. I couldn't even see him anymore, nor hear him.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears leaking from behind my eyelids. I wiped them away and walked slowly back to the house.

When I opened the door, all eyes were on me.

"Where's Jake?" Veronica asked.

I looked at my father and then to Veronica. "He ran away. Temporarily," I said. Then I rethought, remembering his pain again. "Maybe." I looked back to my dad, who nodded at me.

"Damn it," he mumbled and stood up. "I'm going to go look for him. I'll be back…when I'm back," he said, running a human pace out the front door.

_Bring necessary clothing, _I thought to him. _He phased. _

Edward sighed and ran back inside and up the stairs, presumably to Jacob's room to get him a pair of shorts. Then he ran back down the stairs and out the door again.

I sat down on the couch next to Ryan. My mother, from across the room, asked me, "What happened?"

"He ran away," I repeated.

"Yes, I know that, but why?"

"We had a fight. Jake got mad and upset," I explained. Then I thought to Bella, _Wolf._

"Oh," my mom answered. I started to cry silent tears.

Ryan joined the conversation. "Wait, Ness, did he hurt you or something?" he asked frantically.

"No," I said quickly. "He wouldn't do that to me." There weren't many things I was sure of at the moment, but that was one thing I was certain about.

"Then why are you crying?" he asked.

"Because I…I can't stand it. I can't stand him being mad at me," I told him, looking at the ground.

"Oh," Ryan answered.

I remained quiet for the next thirty minutes. A tear escaped every now and then, though.

About forty-five minutes after mine and Jake's fight, he and my dad were at the door.

My father came in first, going back to sit on the couch by my mom. But Jacob came over to me and sat down on the opposite side that Ryan was sitting on.

He took a deep breath and bit his lip. Then he exhaled. "Ness…" he started. "I…I'm so sorry. About…well, everything. But please, just tell me one thing honestly," he pleaded.

"Anything," I answered.

"Were you serious? About…what you said?" he whispered quietly.

"Yes and no," I told him.

"What does that mean?" he asked, confused.

"I'll tell you later," I said. "I think your girlfriend wants you."

While Jake and I were talking, Veronica was staring at Jacob's bare chest, wide eyed.

He looked at her. "What exactly are you staring at?" he asked, totally oblivious.

"Um…_you_! You're so freaking sexy!" Veronica exclaimed.

Jake looked back at me and gave a quick eye roll. Before Veronica pulled him over by her, he told me, "Tell me later, okay?"

"Yep," I answered.

"Promise?"

"Always."

He smiled at me sweetly, and I smiled back, our argument over already.

At about nine o' clock, Ryan and Veronica went home. Jake had to drive Veronica back to the school to get her car, though.

Ryan was the first to leave, but Jake and Veronica were standing in the front yard. Veronica was still gaping at his chest.

When I was saying goodbye to Ryan, I was a little surprised when he smiled and leaned down to kiss me on the cheek. Jacob was seething from this, of course, but he kept calm enough.

I'm sure I blushed. "Bye, Ryan. I'll see you tomorrow," I told him, giving him a hug.

He hugged me back. "Bye, Ness."

He climbed into his car and started it. Then he began driving down the long driveway.

A few minutes later, Jacob and Veronica climbed into Jake's shiny, slick black sports car that my mom bought him for his birthday last year. Jacob smiled at me as he drove down the driveway. I smiled back sympathetically.

I walked back into the house slowly, knowing I would have my parent's wrath to face. I sat down on the couch opposite them and waited.

My father started simply. "Why?" he asked.

"Why what?" I asked innocently.

"Why are you dating Ryan? A human!" he exploded.

"Jacob's dating a human, too!" I countered.

"Yes, but he's _pretending_!" he screeched.

"Oh, so he's allowed to date but I'm not?"

"No, you're not! You're only technically six!" he yelled at me.

"I'm almost seven! I'll be seven in less than a month!" I shot back.

"So? There's hardly a difference! I'd rather you date Jacob than Ryan! Human boys _will_ take advantage of you!" he shouted.

"Ryan won't! He's not like that! He's not that kind of person!" Then I stopped talking, replaying his words. "Wait…you…you'd want me to date Jacob instead of Ryan?" I asked, appalled.

My dad whispered softly, looking at the ground, "Yes."

Even though it would make him more agitated, I said, "Well, I'm not going to date Jake. Not yet, not right now. I'm going to keep dating Ryan. I'm not going to ask him out and then break up with him the next day. That's cheap. Now, I'm going to bed. Goodnight." I got up and ran to my room.

I knew that my dad still had a lot of yell left in him, so I stayed up in my room until Jake got back.

When I heard his car pull up the driveway, I raced down the stairs and out the door. He was just getting out of the car when I attacked him with hugs.

He laughed and hugged me back.

"I'm really sorry about today, Jake. I really am." I backed away from him a little. "Ew," I complained.

His brow furrowed. "What?"

"You smell like her perfume," I said, crinkling my nose.

He laughed. "Yeah, I know," he said, then shuddered. "I'm going to go take a shower now." He walked towards the door.

I smiled at him. "Don't you want me to tell you what I meant?"

"Well, yes, but do you want me to smell like cheap perfume?" he asked, smiling _my_ Jacob's smile.

I sighed. "Okay, but hurry up," I allowed, and followed him inside.

We both walked up the stairs, and I went to my room while he went to his room.

I lay on the couch in my room and waited for him to finish showering. Five minutes later, he knocked on my door.

"Come in," I said. Of course, he could still hear me if I whispered.

He opened the door and walked over to the couch I was on. I sat up, and he sat next to me.

I sniffed. "You smell better."

He laughed a little. "Thank you."

I took a deep breath.

"So?" he asked, waiting for me to start talking.

I inhaled again. "Well, I don't want to be your girlfriend," I started. His face fell immediately.

"Wait…not now or not ever?" he asked.

"Not ever," I told him.

His expression was pained and betrayed.

I put my hand on his. "Listen, I'm not done," I assured. "Jake, I'll never want to be, nor will I ever be, just your girlfriend. People like Veronica are just girlfriends to you. I'm not going to be just another girlfriend. I'll be…like my mom is for my dad, like Emily is to Sam. I'm your _imprint_, and I'm not going to be something as controversial as 'girlfriend', Jake. I'll love you forever, not just for a few months. Got it?"

His face was blank, his expression unreadable. But at least it wasn't pain and betrayal anymore.

"Jake?" I asked.

He smiled a little at me. "Thanks, Ness."

I hugged him. "Love you, Jake."

He embraced me back. "Love you too, Nessie." He let me go. "Just please promise me one thing."

"What?" I questioned him.

"_Please_ don't let…" he trailed off.

"What Jake?" I prompted. "Don't let what?"

"Just please don't let him, or any other human guy for that matter, kiss you. And _please_ don't kiss them. _Please_," he begged.

I was a little surprised by his request. "I'm not saying that I'm going to, but why don't you want me to?" I inquired.

He looked away from me, towards the floor. He looked sort of embarrassed. "Well…I know it sounds…stupid and, um, kind of weird…but…I sort of, um…wanted to uh, be your f-first…well…" he sighed and said quickly and quietly, "I want to be your first kiss." His cheeks got a little red.

I was shocked. I didn't know how to respond to that. "Oh," I said, my voice an octave higher than usual.

He sighed and stood up. He started walking towards the door. "Night," he muttered.

"Jake…" I started to say.

"No, Ness. Just forget it. Kiss whoever you want," he said, disgruntled.

"Okay, I will," I said, shooting off the couch. I went over to him before he could walk out the door. "Stop," I ordered.

He stopped reluctantly, sighing. "What, Nessie?" he said, exasperated.

I stood up on the very tips of my toes and threw my arms around his neck.

"N-Ness, what are you doing…?" he asked nervously.

"This," I said, kissing his cheek. I smiled. "There."

"Um…why did you just do that?" he asked.

"To prove my point," I said simply.

"And what exactly is that point?" he asked skeptically.

"That I can kiss whoever I want," I said independently.

"Okay…" he said. "But why did you need to kiss me?"

"Because I didn't want you to be ticked at me," I answered.

He rolled his eyes and grinned a bit. "Wow."

Smiling, I said, "Yeah… And technically, I didn't kiss you. Officially, anyway."

"I know, but your dad will still be mad at me," he told me, rolling his eyes again.

"Yeah, um, sorry 'bout that…" I apologized.

He smiled. "That's okay. Goodnight, Ness," he said, walking out the door.

"Night, Jake. See you in the morning," I told him.

I then changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed with a smile on my face.

**A/N: Sorry if the "kiss" was awkward. (I needed her to prove her point!) :D Thanks for reading!**


	12. Happy Birthday

**A/N: sorry it took me so long to post this. it took me a really long time to type... but ill try to type faster from now on! :D once i'm done writing chapter 13, i'll type it and post it, too. i hope you like this chapter! Please review! Thanks for reading! **

**Chapter 12: Happy Birthday**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

I woke up smiling. It was Saturday, but that wasn't why I was excited.

Today was September tenth; my seventh birthday.

I shot out of my bed and looked at the clock. It was six forty-five in the morning. I went to my bathroom and took a shower. Then I picked out an outfit to wear. It was a purple, dressy-ish shirt over a black camisole, and Capri's.

When I was done getting ready, I went over to Jake's room and knocked on his door. No answer. I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Then I yelled, "Jake, get up!" He groaned. I walked over to his bed. "Jake! Wake up!" He rolled over onto his stomach and put his pillow over his head. "Jake, come _on_!" I ordered. He stayed where he was. I grabbed the pillow and pulled it away from him. He still stayed there, stubborn as ever. This time I took the blanket he was tangled up in and yanked it away. He rolled and fell off of the bed.

"Hey!" he complained.

"It's time to get up!" I insisted.

He looked at the clock on his bedside table. "But it's only almost seven!"

"Yes, but the plane leaves at eight!" I told him. We were going back to Forks and La Push for a few hours, since the last time we had gone, it had been when I met Rebecca. We weren't driving because it would take too long to drive there and back, since Alice was planning a party for me. My whole family was going. Ryan and—gag—Veronica were coming with us, too. "Now come on, stand up." I took his arm and pulled him upright. He stood and rubbed his eyes. "I'll be downstairs," I said, and started walking out the door.

"Wait," he called.

"Huh?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Happy birthday."

I smiled back and went to hug him. "Thanks, Jake." I released him from the hug and pranced back out the door and down the stairs. I got out my cell phone and texted Ryan.

_Hey! Wake up! the plane leaves in an hour! _

I got a text back from him a minute later. _I was already up. im ready right now. I had 2 get up early 2 wrap ur present. __o and btw… HAPPY BIRTHDAY!_

I smiled and sent him back: _thx! Ill c u in like 1 hour. _Then I added _luv u!_

I got a text back almost immediately. _K. love u, 2._

I sent back a smiley face.

There was a reason that I said "luv" and not "love". Even though they technically mean the same thing, they had totally different meanings. For example, "luv" means that your devotion to that person is temporary, if you have any devotion at all. I was devoted to Ryan, but not like I was devoted to Jake.

But "love"…

Well, "love" was anything but temporary. They say that "hate" is a strong word, but try throwing "love" around. Love isn't temporary. It's eternal. I didn't "love" Ryan, and, well, I never will. But he did love me, and I felt bad that I couldn't return that devotion to him, that promise. Yes, "love" was a promise. So, I don't love Ryan, but I do love Jake. And he loved me, I knew that he did. It was like a big love triangle, only Ryan didn't stand a chance.

I sighed and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

By the time Jake bounded down the stairs, I had almost finished my blueberry muffins that my mom had made for me for my birthday. "Do I get breakfast?" he asked Bella, a grin on his face. He sat next to me at the table.

She smiled back at him. "Is it your birthday?"

"No… Please?" he begged, a little jokingly.

Bella chuckled a bit. "Here," she said, setting a plate in front of him. Then she walked back into the living room where my father was.

"Thanks," he said, and, like usual, started devouring his food.

Soon, he had finished his food. "So when are we picking up Veronica? Or is she coming here? Because I _really_ don't want to go back to that whore house," Jacob said.

I laughed. "Aren't guys supposed to like their girlfriends?" I asked jokingly. "Instead, as soon as you're away from her, you take a shower and brush your teeth."

"Well, can you blame me?" he inquired.

I smiled, and then sighed. "I wouldn't know. Not allowed to kiss anyone, even my boyfriend, remember?" I said. My tone was joking, but Jacob still sighed.

"Okay, Renesmee. You can kiss your boyfriend today, if you want. Happy birthday. Just know it'll kill me," he said, muttering his last sentence.

"Yes and your kissing Veronica makes me jump for joy. I'm not going to be your first kiss either, apparently. Veronica is," I said sourly.

"Okay, look, Ness, Veronica is _not _my first kiss," he said.

"Then who was?" I asked suspiciously.

"Um…no one," he said quickly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Tell me, Jacob," I demanded.

"No," he said.

I decided to go the puppy dog face route. "Pwease, Jakey? Pwease tell me."

He looked away. "No."

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me," I said annoyingly.

He sighed. "No, Renesmee! I won't tell you. Not right now, anyway."

My dad walked in, my mom following him.

"It was me, Ness," my mom told me.

My mouth dropped open with a "pop" and my eyes widened.

Jacob held up his hands in frustration. "Thanks a lot, _Isabella_," he accused. She rolled her eyes.

I looked at Jake. "You _kissed _my _mom_?"

My dad chimed in. "Make-out would be a more accurate phrase."

"Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!" I repeated.

Jacob sighed in exasperation and put his plate in the sink. "Your boyfriend's here," was all he said.

I looked out the kitchen window and saw Ryan drive up and park. I ran out the front door to greet him. "Hey!" I called, and threw my arms around him.

He laughed and kissed the top of my head. "Hey. Happy birthday, Nessie," he said, holding out a perfectly wrapped present. "I hope you like it. I figured since you like to hike…"

"Thank you, Ryan," I thanked. I pulled him through the front door and sat on the couch next to him. Jake sat a few feet away from me. I shook my head at him, reminded of our most recent conversation.

He groaned. "Will you _please_ let it go?" he exclaimed.

"I'll try…" I answered.

"Oh, just open your present," he said.

So, I did just that. I tore off the wrapping paper and found a jewelry box that I opened up. Inside, I saw an antique silver color charm bracelet with animal charms on it. I saw a lion, a bear, a deer, a fox…

And a wolf.

I smiled at Ryan. "Thank you. I love it." I hugged him. The bad thing about this present is that every time I saw it or wore it, I wouldn't think of Ryan, I would think of Jake. I sighed internally.

He hugged back. "You're welcome."

Jacob then picked up the bracelet and looked at it. He stopped at the wolf and smiled, then set it back in the box.

"Okay, Jacob, what's your present for her?" Edward asked expectantly.

"I already told her one part of it. And yeah, Ness, I was serious about it. Another part is something that's very hard to believe, and pretty difficult to do," he hinted.

I was still astonished that he was serious that I could kiss Ryan if I wanted to. But I asked curiously, "What?"

"When we go to La Push today, I've gotten Leah to promise to say nothing but nice things to you."

My eyes widened. I _definitely_ wasn't Leah's favorite person in the world, so this was pretty amazing. "Wow, you're right. Telling Leah to do something and she actually listens to you is nearly impossible. I've got to give you credit. Wow…" I said, still surprised. Leah hated my guts.

"Yes, it is a miracle," Jake said, somewhat sarcastically.

"Who's Leah?" Ryan asked.

"Leah is Jakes…friend?" I wanted to make sure. I looked at Jake.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," he confirmed.

"But I thought you were dating Veronica…" Ryan said, looking at Jacob.

"No, no, no… Jacob's _not_ dating Leah. If he was, I think he would go crazy…" I said.

"Yeah, I probably would. I'd most likely be locked up in an insane asylum before the first date even ended," Jacob agreed jokingly.

"Oh," Ryan said.

"Okay, next present!" my aunt Rose exclaimed, coming down the stairs.

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Rose," I told her.

"You haven't even opened it yet!" she said excitedly, sitting between me and Jake on the couch. She cringed away from Jake, as usual. I took the box that she was holding out towards me and unwrapped the shiny silver paper. I opened the box inside. It was another box. And another, and another…

"Sorry," Rose said. "Emmett wrapped it."

"That explains it," I mumbled as I looked at the first box, about as big as a medium sized dog. I finally got to what seemed to be the last box. I opened it and saw a small jewelry box. Apparently it wasn't the end. I groaned. "Emmett!" I yelled.

The only reply I got was Emmett's booming laughter. I rolled my eyes and opened the tiny jewelry box. Inside, finally, was the present. It was a pair of golden hoop earrings about the circumference of a quarter with real diamond insets. They were about a quarter inch thick.

"Wow, Rose. These are beautiful! Thank you!" I exclaimed, hugging her.

"You're welcome, Ness. I got them for you to wear to the party tonight. Alice told me what you were going to wear, so…" she said, hugging me back.

"Oh. So what am I going to wear, Rosalie?" I asked suspiciously. You'd think I would pick out my own clothes for my own party, but nope, Alice does.

"I'm sorry, that's confidential," she told me smiling, ending our hug.

Edward stood up. "No more presents right now. We have to go," he instructed.

Right then, Veronica drove up the driveway in her bright red Cobalt.

"Dang it, I was hoping we could've left without her…" I muttered.

Jacob smiled at me. "Come on," he said, going out the door. I followed him, and Ryan followed me.

"Renesmee, you're going to have to ride in Jacob's car with Ryan and Veronica, alright?" my father told me.

I sighed at the mention of Veronica. "Okay." I climbed into the backseat with Ryan. Jake, who was driving, got into the driver's seat, and Veronica sat in the passenger seat. Veronica was already clinging to Jacob.

Jacob started the car and drove down the driveway after my father's car, and Emmett's Jeep followed then. It was a pretty cloudy day, sure to be cloudier in Forks, so it was okay to be outside with my family.

_I wish we could've run,_ I thought to Jacob.

He pushed his thought into my head. _Yeah, me too._

I thought back to him, a little shyly, _You… Were you serious? About me kissing Ryan or any other guy if I wanted to today?_

I could see his hands tighten against the steering wheel, his knuckles whiter. _Yes._

_But it'll hurt you. How could I do that?_

_Well, according to you, I'm hurting you by "dating" Veronica, so…It'll be even,_ he thought solemnly.

_Yeah, but I'm hurting you already by dating Ryan…_ I countered.

_Yes, but Veronica kisses me every two minutes, and that's hurting you more. _

_Yes, but apparently, she's not your first kiss. And…_ I thought quietly and cautiously. _And I want you to be my first kiss, too. _

I saw a smile play on his lips. _Really?_

_Yes. Really. I…I love you, Jacob. And I want to kiss a guy I love, not like. _

He smiled brightly. _Thanks, Ness. But honestly, I'm okay with it. I'm not saying that you have to; it's your choice. _

I smiled, too. _Thanks, Jake._ I projected to him.

_No problem. _

About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the airport. We had rented a small plane to go back to Forks. We got on the plane a few minutes after that, and I was sat between Jacob and Ryan…awkward…

I yawned.

"Tired?" Ryan asked.

"A little," I answered.

"Well, gee, I wonder why Miss-Wake-Me-Up-at-Seven-in-the-Morning-on-a-Saturday," Jacob said, somewhat jokingly.

I smiled and chuckled a bit. "Sorry… But you should be used to being tired."

"True," he answered, and then sighed.

It was only about a two hour flight to Forks, but I fell asleep, anyway.

I woke up about an hour and a half later. I felt _really_ hot. I opened my eyes to find that I was lying against Jacob's shoulder. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Sorry, Jake," I apologized sleepily.

"That's okay, Ness," he accepted. He added lowly, "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

I looked to my left to see Ryan looking out the plane window, a blank expression on his face. "Hey, Ryan," I greeted, a little cautious.

He didn't look away from the window. "Hi, Renesmee," he said, a little sadly.

I hugged him and laid my head on his chest. "You okay?" I asked him.

He relaxed a little and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Yeah."

"Sorry."

He knew what I meant. "That's okay. Just _please_ don't do it again," he said, a hint of envy in his voice.

I smiled up at him. "I won't."

He kissed the top of my head and held me tighter. I looked out the window and saw fluffy, light gray clouds drifting past. In the reflection of glass, I saw Jake's mildly hurt expression, probably because of how Ryan was holding me. I looked away from the window. I didn't know why he seemed to act like he was the only one hurting in this situation. I was still pained every time Veronica's head lay against his chest, whenever she embraced him, whenever her sparkly, glossy lips met his…

I knew that Jacob didn't like that much either, but I secretly didn't want _Ryan's_ arms holding me to him, though, to Jacob and, well, basically everyone else except my father thought so. But Edward kept quiet, enduring it, though his mental and emotional torture wasn't as severe as mine and Jacob's.

"Ness?" Ryan asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

He took a deep breath. "I…Ness, I love you. And I think that you're an amazing person. And you're so beautiful and graceful. And…well, I love you," he told me sweetly.

Feeling obligated to say it back, though I didn't entirely mean it, I whispered, "I love you, too, Ryan. You're amazing and handsome and athletic and nice… Well, you get my point," I smiled. I hugged him a little. "I love you."

I turned to sit up in my seat and faced Ryan. He looked into my eyes, his own glowing with happiness and passion. "Ness…" he whispered, and started leaning towards me. When I had finally registered what was happening, his lips were only just over an inch away from mine. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob's jaw tighten and him close his eyes. He started to tremble, in danger of phasing, though he was trying desperately to control it. Knowing that I was the only one who could calm him down, and also knowing that if I spoke directly to Jake, Ryan would be extremely angered at me, I chose the best possibility. This thinking took about half a second, but now Ryan's lips were a mere few millimeters away from mine.

"Ryan…" I said gently, leaning away just a bit. He stopped. My voice was quiet. "I'm…I'm sorry, but I…I just can't. Not…not yet. I'm _really_ sorry," I apologized. Jacob's shaking had slowed, but he still wasn't calmed down enough. _Jacob, calm down. It's alright, just calm down, _I thought reassuringly to him. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The tremors that had gone through his body were finally gone.

Ryan sighed and then smiled at me. "That's alright, Nessie. If you're not ready, you're not ready. I understand."

I hugged him quickly and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ryan said.

We got to the airport in Port Angeles just a half hour later. When we landed, I unbuckled the seat belt, which I had put on for the landing, and stood up. Ryan, Jake, and Veronica all stood up, too. We all made our way to the plane door where the rest of my family was exiting. We got to the two cars that my family had rented to drive back to La Push in. We were going to La Push first, and then we were going to visit my grandpa Charlie. I got in the passenger seat while Jake got into the driver's seat. I turned around to talk to Ryan a lot, who was stuck in the back with Veronica. About an hour later, we drove into the La Push boundaries. I saw Jacob smile.

"Do you miss being here?" I asked him. We hadn't spoken to each other directly since we were on the plane.

The smile stayed on his face. "Of course I do. I miss it constantly. But I like the new house, too." I sighed, remembering that _I_ was the reason he moved from here in the first place. I swear he could read my mind. "Don't blame yourself, Ness. We already talked about this, remember?"

"Yes," I said, sighing again. "But it _is_ technically my fault."

"No, it's not," he said, voice final.

"Whatever you say," I agreed, deciding not to argue. Ryan and Veronica looked extremely confused, but I decided not to go over the story. A minute or two later, we parked outside Jacob's house and got out of the car. The wolves met us immediately.

"_Jake!_" they greeted him. I saw Seth first. I smiled. Seth was awesome. As soon as he was done greeting Jake, he enveloped me into a huge bear hug, lifting me off the ground. I laughed. Same old Seth.

"Happy birthday!" he said to me, and set me back on the ground.

I laughed again. "Thanks, Seth."

Meanwhile, Veronica looked overwhelmed. Well, I couldn't entirely blame her when she was surrounded by _very_ good looking guys. The only way I could blame her was because she was dating Jacob. She couldn't have his friends, too. I didn't know her plans, but I knew better than to read her mind.

I was passed from hug to hug, wished a happy birthday continuously. The last in line was Leah.

"Leah, you promised to be nice…" Jacob reminded her after several seconds of Leah making no move towards me.

Seth bounded over to her. "Yeah, come on, Sis," he encouraged. Leah had her arms folded across her chest, her almost shoulder length black hair whipping in the wind. Her unblinking brown eyes were narrowed at Jake.

"Leah…" Jake said. I could recognize his alpha voice. With a sigh, Leah unfolded her arms and slowly walked towards me. She spread a fake smile across her face. Leah stopped in front of me and said, "Happy birthday, Renesmee," and put her arms around me for a short, awkward hug.

"Thanks, Leah," I told her, hugging her back uncomfortably.

Seth walked up next to her. "See? Now was that so hard?"

"Shut up, Seth," Leah muttered, re-crossing her arms and walking away from me.

I walked over to Jake. "Rebecca went home, didn't she?" I questioned, a little sad.

He sighed. "Yeah."

"Who's Rebecca?" Veronica asked, a little jealous.

"My sister," Jake told her.

"Then why doesn't she live with the rest of you? Didn't your parents die in a fire?" Ryan asked.

"She lives in Hawaii. She's been married for about eight years," Jacob answered without hesitation.

"Hawaii?" Veronica asked in awe. "Hey, Jake, sometime we should go to Hawaii together. It would be really fun…" she said, coming over to him and kissing him.

Jacob pulled away when he saw me cringe. "Um, no thanks," was all he muttered.

Embry walked over to Veronica and Jacob."Um…Jake…who's this?" he asked, puzzled, knowing that he imprinted on me.

"My girlfriend, Veronica," he said, partially through his teeth. Quil looked at me questioningly, but I just shook my head.

Even though I loved Seth like a brother, there were times when I just wanted to strangle him. Times like now. "But Jake, you and Ness are mea—" he started to say before Sam slapped his hand over his mouth. Jacob looked totally ticked at Seth, but didn't say anything. Yet.

Ryan looked at me skeptically. "You and Jacob are what, Renesmee?" he asked, voice a little rough.

To my absolute surprise, Leah came to my rescue. "Don't listen to Seth. He always talks without thinking and doesn't make sense half the time. He used to gnaw on his crib bars. They had lead paint…" she explained.

"Hey!" Seth exclaimed.

"Well, it's true," Leah muttered.

"Jake!" Seth said for help.

"Well, knowing you it probably is…" Jacob said seriously. I smacked his arm. "Hey!" he repeated Seth. I rolled my eyes. Ryan still looked a little upset by what Seth had said, but had calmed down for the most part.

I kissed Ryan's cheek. "Love you…"

He smiled at me. "Love you, too. And no one else." Hmmm, I wonder who he could be talking about.

"Ready to go swimming?" my dad asked in a hard voice.

"Yeah," Jake said, thankful to have attention away from Seth's outburst.

We had all brought our swimsuits with us because we knew we were going to be swimming. Despite the cloud cover, it was pretty humid. We all got our swimsuits from the cars. Jacob then opened the door to his old house. Billy was sitting in the front room.

"Jake! Ness!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, Billy!" Jake greeted. He was pretending that Billy was his great uncle.

I hugged Billy. "Hi! I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Sweetheart," he said as he hugged me back.

Jacob said to Ryan and Veronica, "This is my great uncle, Billy." Billy nodded; he was told of this plan.

"Hi, Billy. I'm Veronica, Jacob's girlfriend," Veronica said.

Billy looked at Jacob, confused, but didn't say anything. "Nice to meet you, Veronica."

"And I'm Ryan, Renesmee's boyfriend," Ryan greeted, shaking Billy's hand.

Billy still looked confused, but didn't interfere. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Well, I'm going to go change," I said awkwardly, walking towards the bathroom. I changed quickly into my two piece swimsuit and went back out to the front room. Ryan looked dazzled at the sight of me, but didn't say anything.

Jacob changed next, only he went to his old bedroom. Ryan went to the bathroom to change. Jacob came back first, his beautiful chest exposed. Of course, Veronica fell all over him. Ryan came back to the front room about thirty seconds later. I had to admit, he was pretty hot shirtless, though not as defined a Jacob. Veronica changed then, and came back wearing hardly any clothing at all. She had on a bikini, a very small one, I might add.

Once the rest of my family had changed into their swimsuits, we all went back outside and walked to the beach. I was holding Ryan's hand, and he was still gawking at me, just like Veronica was staring at Jacob. Veronica and Jake were walking beside us. I let go of Ryan's hand when Jacob rolled his eyes at Ryan's admiring of me to slap his arm.

Jake just laughed. "Ready to swim?" he asked me, smiling. He let go of Veronica's hand, too, and ran into the water.

**A/N: like i said, i'll try to post chapter 13 as soon as i can. I hope you like the story so far! :D**


	13. Swimming

**A/N: Sorry it took me a while to type this. :/ Once i finish writing chapter 14, I'll post it. :D (wow... i'm slow at writing _and_typing...) lol! but i hope you like this chapter and dont find it awkward at any point and time... and sorry if you do. **

**Chapter 13: Swimming**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

I stepped into the warm, blue-green, rippling water. I went deeper, until the water was up to my waist. Ryan swam up beside me.

"Hey. Having fun?" he asked.

"Yeah. You?"

"Yep." He looked up towards the rocky cliffs where Quil was about to jump off the very top. "Are they crazy?" he asked in disbelief.

I chuckled a little bit. "They'll be fine. Trust me. They _always_ do that. Come on," I said, pulling him to where my parents, Jake, and Veronica were. Bella looked up at the cliffs and shuddered.

Jacob chuckled. "What's the matter, Bells? Not up for cliff diving?" I felt like I was missing an inside joke.

"Shut up, Jake," I heard her mutter.

Jacob laughed now. "No, really. Do you want to go?"

"No," Bella answered quickly.

"Whatever," he said. He looked to me. "How about you, Ness?"

"What?" I asked, a little stupidly.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Cliff diving?"

I glanced once again back up at the jagged rocks, at least a hundred feet high. Feeling a little brave, I took a deep breath and said, "Alright."

"Whoa, Ness, are you crazy?" Ryan inquired, appalled.

"Maybe," I muttered.

"Come on Ness, let's go," a smiling Jacob said, walking up the wet sand at the bottom of the sea floor, not hindered by the waves crashing against him.

"Be right back," I said to Ryan, and followed Jake up to the beach to walk to the cliffs.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jake asked me when we got to the sandy shore.

"Yeah, I'll try it." I looked at him. "But you'll help me if I start to drown or something, right?"

He laughed. "Yes, I'll help you. Just like I helped Bella before you were born."

"Wait, is that why she didn't want to jump off the cliff?" I asked.

"Yep. But I can't tell you the whole story or the reason why she did it. I'll let her tell you that."

We made our way down the shore and into the trees, off to the cliffs. It took about eight minutes to walk there. When we got to the highest point, we stopped.

"Um…can you jump with me?" I asked, nervous all of the sudden.

He smiled at me and said jokingly, "Why? You afraid?"

"No," I said quickly. Too quickly.

He laughed and took my hand, leading me to the edge of the cliff. "Ready?" he asked, grinning.

I looked down at the deep, gray waters below us. I was scared; there was no denying that. But I had Jake here with me, and with him by my side, I felt brave enough to do anything. I took a deep breath, tasting the salty sea air, and breathed, "Yes."

"Take a breath right as you're above the water," he instructed. "Jump."

We both jumped at exactly the same time, spiraling into the air. I screamed. Jacob laughed. The water rushed towards us, and right before it crashed with our bodies, I took a deep, full breath and plugged my nose with my free hand. I could hear Jake do the same. The water met my body with a sharp splash. Soon all I could hear was the bubbling water and the echoes of the impact ringing in my ears. I opened my eyes, the water murky and the salt making them sting. I saw Jake grinning at me. Then he kicked us to the water's surface, still holding my hand. When my head broke the surface of the water, I repeatedly inhaled and exhaled, catching my breath. I wiped the stinging water out of my eyes.

"Oh my God," I said, breathless. I wiped my wet, bronze, curly hair away from my face.

Jake chuckled. "Is that a good or bad thing?"

"That was so freaking fun! Can we jump again?" I smiled eagerly.

This time he laughed; at my sudden eagerness, no doubt. "Yeah. Let's see if Bella wants to go _now_."

We swam back to where my parents, Ryan, and Veronica were. It took a while to get there, but we couldn't climb back up the cliffs or swim as fast as we could in front of humans. I was still smiling. "Bella, you _really_ need to jump! It's so fun!" I exclaimed.

She quickly shook her head. "No. No way."

I laughed at her reaction. Jake said, "Wow. Even now you won't go? Would you go with Edward?"

She looked to Edward, then back to me and Jake. "Maybe… But Jake, you _know_ why I don't want to jump…" she shuddered.

Jake mumbled, "Yeah, I know. And you're welcome for that, once again," he said, tone joking.

My mother hugged him dramatically, and Veronica glared daggers at her. Bella ignored her like she wasn't there. "Thank you, Jacob. Thank you _so _much," she said, voice also dramatic.

Jacob hugged her back quickly and chuckled. "Wow, Bells."

Edward took my mother's hand. "I'll jump if you jump."

My mom took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then, she sighed in defeat and looked at him. "Fine. I'll jump," she agreed. They swam back up to the shore and started walking up to the cliffs.

"Jake, can we jump again?" I asked excitedly.

"I'll jump with you, Ness," Ryan said, a little jealously.

"Are you sure?" I asked him. He was only a breakable human, after all.

"Yeah, totally," Ryan said bravely.

"Okay, if you're sure…" I said, a little doubtful. We walked up to the cliffs, the highest point, silent all the way up. "Are you sure you want to jump from up here?"

"Yes, I'm sure," he told me. I don't care how brave he acted, he still seemed scared and nervous to me.

"Alright." I took his hand and walked to the edge. I was excited again. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, inhaling.

"Okay. Jump," I instructed, and we both dove off the cliff edge. I screamed, smiling, and Ryan was sort of screaming, too. We both took a breath right before we hit the water. We then swam back to the surface. This jump was still fun, but not as fun as it was jumping with Jacob.

"That…was…wow," he said, at a loss for words. "That was pretty fun, actually."

I smiled. "I told you. Come on." We swam back to my parents, Jacob, and Veronica. He wasn't as fast of a swimmer as I was, so I had to slow my pace and wait for him to catch up.

Seth swam up to us and grabbed my hand. "Come on, Ness," he said, pulling me up to the shore again.

"Are we going off the cliff again?" I asked with anticipation.

"Well, I'm throwing you off the cliff." When he saw my wide-eyed expression, he added, "It'll be fun."

"For you," I muttered, worried.

He laughed. "Relax. You'll be fine," he assured. We made our way up to the top of the cliffs and Seth picked me up in his arms. "Ready?" he asked, grinning.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered.

He sighed. "Do you want me to call Jake over here to be down there or something?"

"Um…sure…" I said, a little reluctant because of Ryan's jealousy.

"Jake!" Seth yelled.

Jacob looked up at the cliff. "What?" he called.

"Come over here! At the bottom of the cliff!" he shouted down to him.

"Okay…" Jake bellowed back, a little confused. He swam over to the water below the cliff. Out of nowhere, Seth threw me off the cliff edge. I sailed through the air, screaming, this time with a bit of fear. I rushed toward the water, back first.

"Jake!" I screamed. He swam quickly to where I was going to hit the water and held out his arms. When I was about a foot from the water, Jacob reached up and caught me. We both went underwater for a second from the impact, but then came back up. Jacob was still holding me against his chest. I smiled up at him. "Thanks," I whispered.

He smiled his beautiful smile back down at me. "No problem," he said, a little huskily. He held me still, a moment longer than necessary, staring into each other's eyes. The calm water was soon interrupted by Seth's jump, sending sea spray onto me and Jacob. Then, Jacob sighed a little and started to let me out of his arms. I could tell it was reluctant, for Ryan and Veronica were watching. I didn't want him to stop holding me, but he had to. "Come on." He pulled me over to where everyone else was wading in the water. Ryan looked a mix of angry, sad, and jealous.

I swam over to him and smiled. "Hey," I greeted.

"Hi," he said emotionlessly. I sighed.

Meanwhile, Embry was swimming quickly towards me. "My turn," he said, grinning.

I swam and hid behind Ryan. "No!"

Embry laughed. "Come on, Nessie." He swam behind Ryan to get to me.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I screeched. I moved from behind Ryan and ran into Jacob's hard chest with my back. Embry was still advancing.

"Embry…" Jacob said sternly in his alpha voice.

Embry sighed. "Fine."

"Thanks," I said to Jacob. I swam back over to Ryan. "Come on," I said, pulling him away from everyone else. When we were about fifty yards away, I hugged him. He stayed still. I sighed again and released him. "Ryan, what's wrong?" I asked, exasperated.

He stayed silent for a few long moments, but when he finally spoke, his voice was so quiet that I almost had to strain to hear him. He didn't meet my eyes. "You love him."

"No, I don't. I love you," I lied.

He sighed. "No. You love him and he loves you."

"And how do you figure that?" I asked gently.

"I see the way you both look at each other. You never look at me that way. And…well, I already told you that I love you, and you said that you loved me too, but…" he sighed again and shook his head. "I don't know."

"That's not true," I fibbed again. My voice was comforting.

"You wouldn't kiss me, either. Why?" he asked sadly.

"I didn't kiss you because I wasn't ready to," I said, truthful for once.

"Are you ready _now_?" he asked, his green-gold eyes passionate as he looked into my chocolate brown ones.

"I…R-Ryan…" I sighed. "No. I'm not ready for you to kiss me yet. I'm sorry but…it's the truth."

"See?" he said looking rejected. He shook his head. "I bet if Jacob wanted to kiss you again, you would let him," he said. He was hurt, not angry.

"No, I wouldn't. Wait…again?" I asked as I replayed his words in my head.

"Yes. You two have to have kissed before," he said, not meeting my eyes.

"No, we have never kissed. Ever. And…I've never kissed anyone. At all. That's why I'm so hesitant about kissing you," I admitted. I had lied a little about why I wouldn't kiss him, but I wasn't going to tell him that I couldn't kiss him because I wanted to kiss Jacob first.

"You…you haven't?" he asked, surprised. "Wow. But…but you're so beautiful…" he trailed.

I smiled. "Thanks," I said. I kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. This time he hugged me back, a little reluctant. "Why are you mad at me?" I asked, even though I could just read his mind and find out.

"W-when… Nevermind."

"Please tell me," I begged.

He had stopped hugging me. "Fine. But I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at _him_." That made me a little upset, but I kept quiet. "When…Seth or whatever his name is threw you off the cliff, Jacob caught you. I could've caught you, if you'd have asked. And…when he caught you, he held you for much longer than was necessary. And today on the plane…when you fell asleep…and you laid on _his_ shoulder… I know that you were, well, unconscious and couldn't help it, but _he_ could have. And you always know what the other is talking about, without telling the rest of us. And what Seth started to say… Well, you just seem like you two belong to each other. I don't know how else to explain it. And…I don't know if I can live with that."

A tear had escaped through my eyes without my noticing. "Y-you…what? What do you mean?" I whispered, afraid my voice would break if I spoke any louder.

He inhaled and closed his eyes. "I don't know, Renesmee… I'll… Look, I'll still be your boyfriend if you want me to, but…if you and Jacob…" he sighed. "I guess it depends."

"On what?" I asked in a small voice.

"If you and Jacob keep acting like…well, more than friends."

"Okay. So…you're still my boyfriend?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes. If you want me to be," he smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

I hugged him tightly and kissed his neck. "Of course I want you to be my boyfriend, Ryan."

He hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. "Thanks, Ness." He picked me up, still hugging me, and spun me around. I giggled. But I was now facing Jacob who, of course, had just heard our entire conversation. When he saw me looking at him, he swam away to Veronica. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Longer than five seconds, I might add. But this time…this time was different. Jacob…he was kissing her back. He's never done that before, even when he was pretending to like her. Soon, after about fifteen seconds, Jacob was holding Veronica around the waist and they were—there's no other way to explain it—making-out. I looked away from them, more silent tears streaming down my face. "Nessie, why are you crying?" Ryan asked worriedly, wiping the tears away with his thumb.

"I-I'm not. It's water," I lied. Jacob was right; I was a pathetic liar.

Ryan looked at me disapprovingly. "No, it's not."

"I-I want to go home," I said, swimming towards the shore.

"But Ness, we just got here," Ryan told me, coming after me.

But I had to get out of here. I didn't want to think of Jacob, and this place screamed him. It reminded me far too much of Jacob, and I didn't want to think of him. I got to the sandy shore and started to walk back to Jacob's house to change, but I didn't want to go there. I groaned. My clothes were still there, and I had to change. I ran at a human speed to the house. When I got through the front door, I ran as fast as I could to the bathroom, ignoring the questioning stares from Billy. When I got to the bathroom, I changed, full speed, back into my clothes after I dried off. In about ten seconds, I was completely changed and all but my hair was completely dry. I ran back out the door of the house at a human pace, only to run into a dripping wet Jacob. I shoved against his stone hard chest, pushing him out of my path. "Move," I ordered in a sad but demanding voice. I walked quickly past him, avoiding eye contact.

"Renesmee!" he called, confused. But then I saw Ryan and ran into his arms. He held me close around the waist and kissed my forehead.

"Ness! Ness, what's the matter?" Ryan asked frantically. I just shook my head. I could tell Jacob was staring at me, but I didn't care. I just wanted to forget about him. Ryan was stroking my hair repeatedly, saying over and over again, "Shhh, it's alright," even though he didn't know what I was upset about. I kept crying.

Over Ryan's shoulder, I saw my father walking towards me. "Can we go home?" I asked him quietly.

"But we haven't seen Charlie yet…" he said. I started to sob more. He then agreed. "Okay, we can go home, if you want." He instructed everyone to go change back into their clothes, that we were going home. My mom was the most upset about this, since she hadn't seen Grandpa Charlie in a little more than two months. The rest of my family was confused on why we had to leave so soon, but they obeyed my father.

"Renesmee, why do you want to leave?" Jacob was the only one brave enough to ask me. But I ignored him. He had asked me this when Ryan left me to go back into the house to change. When I turned away from him childishly, I heard him sigh and walk away, muttering sadly, "Fine. Don't talk to me. Whatever." This just made me cry even more.

A few minutes later, when everyone in my family was dressed, my dad addressed me gently. "Ren, go get in the car," he said, pointing to the car that Jacob would be driving.

"No. I'm not riding in the same car as Jacob," I sneered. When I said this, Jacob turned, a confused, pained, and a little bit angry expression on his face. I pulled Ryan to the van that my father was driving everyone else around in. "Alice and Jasper can ride in the other car," I said. My father looked like he disapproved, but said nothing. Alice and Jasper climbed into the same car as Jacob and Veronica without complaining while Ryan and I crawled into the very back seat of the van. The drive was absolute silence, and that was somewhat of a miracle considering that Emmett was in the car.

Just under an hour later, we arrived at the small airport in Port Angeles and got onto the same plane as before. Ryan and I were the first two on the plane, followed by Em and Rose, then my parents, then my grandparents. A couple minutes after they got on board, Alice pranced into the plane, Jasper closely behind. The last to board were Jacob and Veronica. Jacob, being brave as he is, sat in the empty seat next to me. He sat there even though my facial expression was hostile and hateful. He had a challenging expression on his own face. As soon as he sat down, I stood up and walked to the very back of the plane and chose the furthest seats away from my recent seat that Jacob was still sitting next to. I sat down and yet another tear leaked from my red, puffy, tear-streaked eyes. Almost immediately after I sat down, Jacob stood up and walked to where I was seated. He had his "don't mess with me" look plastered across his face, but at the same time, he looked caring and gentle. That's one of the many reasons I loved him. While he was tough and daring, he could be caring and sweet at the same time. Remaining stubborn, I looked out the plane window. I heard him sit down in the seat beside me, but still stared angrily out the window. It was a long moment before he spoke.

"Renesmee, why are you mad at me?" he asked in a somewhat rough voice.

I immediately exploded on him. I turned in my seat to face him. "Why am I mad? I don't know, Jacob, tell me why I'm mad!"

He just looked at me with narrowed eyes. After a long silence, he spoke. "I don't know why you're mad. That's kind of why I asked you," he said a little sarcastically.

"Okay, then why don't you ask your girlfriend?"

"Ask her what, exactly?" he challenged.

I groaned. "You make me crazy. I hope you know that," I told him.

"Well, then, we're even," he said. I turned back to the window. "No. Tell me why you're mad first."

I turned back to him. "Fine. I'm mad because of you. Because you just had to kiss Veronica like that for revenge, didn't you?"

He looked confused at first, but then realization crossed his face. He sighed. "And you don't know how much I regret that. It's just…I don't know why I reacted like that. I heard you say all that stuff to Ryan and…and I didn't want to seem like the only one hurting. I wanted to see if I could actually love someone else like I love you. But…I couldn't. I can't. It's not possible. It's like I don't even see Veronica, or any other girl for that matter. I only see you. I know you found a replacement for me, but it's impossible for me to find one for you."

I was quiet, soaking his words into my brain. "Oh," I whispered, quiet as ever. That seemed to always be my reaction when he said these kinds of things. Jacob sighed and started to get up, but I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down. "Just to let you know, Ryan's not your replacement. There is no replacement for you. And I'm sorry I made us leave early. Maybe we can go back next weekend, or tomorrow," I smiled half-heartedly.

"And jump off the cliff again?" he said, grinning.

"Yes, we'll jump off the cliff again," I agreed. "Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Ryan _really_ wants to kiss me," I said cautiously.

He clenched his fists. "I know."

"But I don't want to kiss _him_," I said quietly.

Even though he knew, he asked, "Who?"

I gently hit his arm, smiling a little. "You know. But…if I keep dating Ryan, I'm going to have to kiss him eventually…" I stated.

Jacob sighed. "I know," he repeated.

"But, like I said before, I don't want _Ryan_ to be my first kiss, and you don't want him to be my first kiss either."

"I think I know what you're saying, and I want to remind you that you have a vampire father that already isn't very fond of me. So…" he sighed. "No. Not now."

"So Ryan will break up with me soon, won't he?" I said, not exactly sad, but not happy either.

"That's up to you."

"You heard everything Ryan and I said to each other, right?" I inquired.

"Yeah, why?"

"You heard what he said about you and me?"

"Yes, something about, 'don't keep acting like more than friends' or something like that. Right?" he remembered.

"Yes," I confirmed. "And he's going to be mad at you and upset with me when we're done talking," I said, and then sighed.

"Yeah, he will be. And I'm sort of sorry about that," he said, grinning. "And I still have a birthday present for you. This will be your favorite present yet, I promise."

"What?" I asked curiously, even though I knew he wouldn't tell me.

"Not telling," he said, confirming my thoughts. I decided to peek into his mind. I sighed when I heard him repeating the lyrics to "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol.

"Really?" I asked.

"I _knew_ you were going to try to read my mind," he smiled.

"Are you sure _you_ can't read _my_ mind?" I asked in disbelief.

He just laughed. Then he looked back to where Ryan and Veronica were still sitting, at the very front of the plane. "We better go back," Jake said. "Your boyfriend's probably getting paranoid," he added with an eye roll. He started to get up again.

"Wait," I said, taking his arm. "Thank you. For explaining everything. And for always being there for me, no matter how stupid I act," I said, hugging him.

He hugged me back and, despite Ryan's rules, kissed the top of my head. "That's what I'm here for," he said, grinning sweetly. He stood up then, after he let me go. "Come on," he said, holding his hand out to me.

"In a minute. Can you ask Ryan to come back here for a minute, please?" I requested.

"Sure," he agreed. He walked back up to the front of the plane. About a minute after Jake left, Ryan sat down beside me.

"What's up?" he asked. His voice sounded normal, and that was good.

"Nothing really," I answered.

"Now will you tell me why you're so mad at Jacob?" he seemed happy at the thought of me being mad at Jake.

"I can't or you'll be mad at me. And I'm not mad at Jacob. Anymore."

"Really? Do you forgive him for everything? You do, don't you?" he said, answering his own question.

"Well, I can't stay mad at him forever, like you seem to want me to. I mean, we live in the same house," I said, voice somewhat sharp.

He sighed calmingly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry."

"That's okay. And sorry I made us leave early. It's just that the whole place reminded me of Jacob…" I admitted.

"Why?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Well, because he used to live there," I told him.

"Oh," he said, letting the subject go. I yawned. "Oh my God. How can you _still_ be tired?" he asked incredulously.

"I don't know. Jumping off a cliff twice, getting thrown off the cliff once, and crying your eyes out for about an hour from fighting with your boyfriend and your best friend takes a lot out of a girl," I smiled. I laid my head against his chest.

He chuckled. "Night, Ness."

"Night," I mumbled before my eyes closed, seeing nothing but blackness. At first.

**A/N: thanks for reading! Please review!**


	14. Realizations

**A/N: ok so... here's chapter 14. I hope you don't find it awkward. Or don't find any other part depressing or anything. I hope you like this chapter! Please review!**

**Chapter 14: Realizations**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

_We didn't stand a chance. They had already made the rest of my family flee, daring them to fight. Jacob was the only one who stayed to defend me against _them_. The Volturi. They were all there. Jane and Felix in the front, Aro hidden behind his monstrous guard. Jacob growled fiercely, scaring even me. Jane didn't even flinch, nor did Felix. Jane smiled at him angelically, but the effect was anything but pleasant. Jacob sank to the ground, howling in pain. _

"_Stop! Please, please stop! No!" I shouted and begged, but Jane kept hurting him, using her power to send him the illusion of unbearable pain. Jacob kept howling, a tortured, strangled sound. Out of nowhere, Felix pounced on Jacob, who was still crying in pain on the forest floor. I heard Aro's malicious laughter, his red, thirsty eyes just visible beyond the gray cloaks of his guard. Felix was still tearing Jake, ripping him to pieces. "_No!_" I screeched, my vision blurred from my tears. _

_Felix just laughed viciously as he tore my Jacob to pieces, Jane still using her evil gift on him. Soon after, the howls of unendurable agony that were ringing through the air died off, silent now. I sank to the ground, sobbing. He was dead. Surely I would die now, too. I closed my eyes and lay on the hard, cold forest floor, waiting and wanting to die. Half of me was gone now. Without Jacob, I was nothing. I couldn't survive without him. But now he was gone. I saw the Volturi's drifting shadows desert the clearing silently. This was worse than if they'd have killed me. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to quiet the sobs. I couldn't. I crawled over the dead grass and weeds to my Jacob and lay against his now cold, broken, torn, bloody body, waiting to join him, to die. _

_All of the sudden, indescribable pain shot through my body. My eyes landed on Jane's black cloaked figure standing by the trees. So they hadn't left. I knew that my mental and emotional pain would end soon, thanks to this, but Jane's gift was like a living Hell. Screams ripped through my throat, already sore from my crying and shouting. I saw Felix walking slowly back out to me, a lighter in his hand. He was going to burn me, though I wasn't a full vampire. This just made me cry out more. He was now just a mere yard away from Jake and me, an orange flame already visible from the top of the lighter. He reached down and put the lighter to the dead grass right beside me, where my shirt would catch fire. I tried to put out the flame, but I was rendered helpless with Jane still mentally attacking me. The flames licked up the fabric of my shirt, slowly going through to my skin. I screamed bloody murder at the sudden heat, hotter than anything I had ever felt before. Felix flitted back to the trees, leaving me here to burn. Jane was still smiling at me deviously, and I was still writhing at the use of her gift. This was it. I was going to die… _

I woke up screaming, hot tears falling out of my eyes, cold sweat on my face and neck. I saw Ryan, Jacob, Edward, and the rest of my family, worry and panic written across all of their faces. The only one who knew what was going on was Edward, but he didn't appear to have said anything to anyone else. As soon as I had opened my eyes, Veronica muttered, "It's about time you woke up and stopped screaming, little brat."

Jacob glared at her for that, but then turned back to me. "Ness, are you alright? What happened? I…" Jacob said frantically. Seeing his face, the worry in his eyes, it was all so real. It's like my dream never happened, like it didn't exist. I couldn't help it; I threw my arms around his neck and started quietly sobbing again.

Through my tears, I wailed, "J-Jake, you're…o-kay…"

"Of course I'm okay… Ren, what's going on? Why were you screaming?" he asked, holding me close comfortingly.

"I-I had a nightmare… It…it was h-h-horrible… Y-you…" I blubbered.

Jacob stole a quick glance at my father, who had a somber expression on his face. Then he looked back to me. "I what, Ness?" he prompted.

"Y-you…you were…you got k-k—" I started to tell him, but then yet another sob overtook my body, a new series of tears pouring through my red, splotchy eyes, remembering. "Volturi," I whispered in his ear, when I could speak again.

Jacob held me out at arm's length. "The Volturi? _Them_?" he asked gently.

I nodded. "Yes. J-Jake, they… J-Jane and Felix…" I said softly, crying onto his shoulder again.

He repeatedly stroked my hair and my back, comforting me. "Shhh…" he kept saying. Then he pushed into my head, _they promised to leave us alone, remember?_

I nodded, then sat back up in my seat. "I-I'm sorry…"

Jacob smiled half-heartedly at me, not reaching his eyes. "Don't worry about it. Just forget it. Forget all about it. I'm fine, and so is everyone else. Nothing ever happened," he assured me.

I nodded. "Thanks, Jake." I looked at Edward. "Hey, are we almost home?"

"Yes. We'll be at the airport in about fifteen minutes," he said, then came over to me and hugged me. "It's alright, Nessie. It didn't happen, and it's not going to happen," he told me, wiping stray tears from my eyes. I hugged him back, trying not to cry again. When everyone went back to their seats in the next few minutes after I assured them that I was fine now, I sat on Ryan's lap, laying my head against his chest.

"Ness, who are the Volturi?" Ryan asked.

"No one," I breathed quickly.

He dropped the subject. "Alright. But are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…now."

He kissed the top of my head. We stayed silent until we got to the airport. We all exited the plane again and made our way to our own cars. When Jake was about to get into the driver's seat, I asked, "Um, Jake…can I drive?" I smiled sweetly.

"But…you've never driven before. You're dad would kill me…" he said.

"Is that your only excuse?" I asked, tilting my head.

He sighed. "Isn't that a good enough excuse?"

"Please?" I begged.

He was warring with himself. Then, reluctantly, he handed me the keys. "_Please_ don't make me regret this."

I smiled brilliantly. "Thank you!"

He walked over to the passenger seat. "Yeah, yeah. Happy birthday." I opened the driver's car door and sat in the seat. I put the seat belt on, though only Ryan and Veronica needed it. I put the key in the ignition and turned it. The car roared to life. I grinned. Then, I gently pressed down on the gas pedal, and the car shot forward from its parking space. "Be careful!" Jacob warned. I just laughed gleefully. He rolled his eyes.

"Um, Ness, have you ever driven before?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah…" I lied slowly. Jake rolled his eyes again. Ryan and Veronica still didn't look convinced. I continued to cautiously drive out of the airports' parking lot and onto the highway.

"Careful!" Jacob repeated at predictable intervals. Once, I almost drove off the road at a curve, and Jacob had to reach over and take the steering wheel from me temporarily. "Good Lord…" he muttered.

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry…" Jacob took a deep breath and hesitantly let me have the steering wheel again.

"Why, oh why did I ever agree to this?" he asked no one in particular, looking up at the car's ceiling and shaking his head.

I rolled my eyes and concentrated more from then on.

About five minutes after that, we pulled up the driveway. Surprisingly, we were still in one piece when I pulled into the garage. We were the last ones there.

"God, remind me to _never_ agree to that _ever_ again," Jacob said as he quickly unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car.

I laughed and climbed ou of the car, too. "Now, why would I do that?" I asked, smiling.

"Because you don't want us to die," Jacob said, a little jokingly.

I hugged him for about a second since Ryan was present. "Thanks, Jake," I thanked him, grinning.

"Sure, sure," he said, and walked inside.

I walked over to where Ryan was exiting the car. "Hi. Sorry about my driving skills..." I apologized.

He looked a little shaken. "That's alright." I took his hand and led him inside.

My dad was looking hatefully at Jake. "Why the hell would you let her drive?" my dad yelled.

"Well, it's her birthday and she asked me, so..." Jacob defended.

"Edward, don't blame him. It was my idea," I said, trying to keep him from yelling at Jake any more.

Edward still looked really ticked, but didn't say anything else. For now.

"Nessie, come on!" Alice said gleefully, taking my arm and leading me up the stairs.

"Alice, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Well, Rose, Esme, and Bella need to set up for your party and I have to get you changed into another outfit!" she exclaimed.

"Why?"

"Why what? I can't read your mind, unlike some other people," she said, a little sourly.

"Why do I have to change clothes?" I elaborated.

"Because it's your birthday party and you need to wear something more special than everyday clothes," Alice told me as she closed the door to my room. She dashed over to my walk-in closet that seemed to be bigger than the main part of my room. In two seconds, Alice came back out of the closet with five garment bags covering her small figure. "Okay, we need to pick an outfit out for you. I picked a few outfits for you to try. But I think I know the one you're going to pick."

"Wow, that's a first. You said 'I think,'" I said with false shock.

She sighed in exasperation. "You know I can't see you or Jake. I hate that..." she shook her head once and threw a garment bag at me. "Try it on!" she instructed, peppy again.

I quickly pulled the bag over the clothing inside. It was a smooth, silky, strapless, floor-length dress. It was maroon colored, the kind of dress a girl wore to prom, not their seventh birthday party, even if they were pretending to be seventeen. "Sorry, Alice, but I'm not even going to try it on. It's too formal..." I said. I saw Alice's face fall and quickly reassured her. "But, it's really beautiful. I'll wear it to prom, okay?" I promised her. Her bright smile came back.

"Okay!" she said excitedly. She quickly covered the dress back up and handed me another clothes bag. This was a light green, poofy dress that went just past my knees. It sort of looked like Tinker Bell's dress. I shook my head at Alice. "Why?" she asked, trying not to frown.

"Too princess-like. Sorry," I said apologetically. She sighed and gave me another outfit as she put the fairy dress away. I lifted the bag over the dress and blinked my eyes a few times. The dress was covered in bright, mirror-like, silver sparkles. It was absolutely sparkly, not a speck of dress free of shimmer. I put the bag back over it. "_Really_ sparkly," I told her, and handed her the bag.

"Alright. There's only two more. You _better_ like one of them," she warned, narrowing her golden, honey-colored eyes at me. She tossed me another bag and I removed it to reveal yet another dress. It was silky and bright red, with faux diamond studded thin straps. It was pretty low-cut, and it went a couple inches above fingertip length. I liked it, but I knew if I wore it to the party that I would feel self-conscious. Nonetheless, I decided to try it on. I had to admit, it looked really cute on me, and it fit me perfectly, if not too perfectly. It clung to every curve of my body, which made me feel more revealed than I felt in my two-piece swimsuit. "So, how do you like it?" Alice asked, a brilliant smile on her face as she stood next to me and examined me in the mirror.

I looked in the mirror with her. "Well, I like it, but...it's a little short, don't you think?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well, if you think this dress is short, then the other outfit won't be much longer. But at least the next outfit isn't as formal..." Alice said.

I removed the last outfit from the garment bag and gasped a little. It was one of the outfits that Alice got me at the mall the day Jake told me about imprinting. It was the violet colored, thin silk strapless shirt, paired with a short, tight black skirt. "This?" I asked Alice a little breathlessly. There were so many wonderful things about that day, but also so many things that had gone wrong.

"Yes, why?" Alice asked curiously.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. "Nevermind." I pulled off the tight red dress that I was currently wearing and slipped the shirt and skirt pair on. I actually really liked it. Yes, it was short and pretty revealing, but with Veronica at the party, I wouldn't look the cheapest.

"So, do you like _this _one?" Alice asked, brows raised.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks, Alice," I said, hugging her.

"You're welcome, Sweetheart," Alice said, embracing me back.

"Is the party ready yet?" I asked, suddenly impatient.

"Relax, Renesmee," Alice told me. "You, Jake, Ryan, and Veronica are going out to lunch first so we can get the party set up _quickly_. They're starting to set things up at human speed now."

"Alright, where are we going?" I questioned.

"I don't know. It's up to you. You're the birthday girl," she spoke as she handed me four hundred dollar bills, presumably for the lunch costs.

"Thanks, Alice," I acknowledged again, smiling.

"No problem, Ness. Let's get you ready to go downstairs. I'm sure Ryan and Jake will start drooling when they see you," Alice predicted, rolling her eyes.

"Jake?" I asked, confused. Jake would drool over me?

Alice started laughing a little, thinking it was a joke. Then she saw my serious expression and looked, dumb-founded, at me. "You're kidding me, right?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Um...no..." I said slowly.

"Sweetie, are you blind?" Alice asked me.

"No, Alice. I'm sure my sight is perfect, seeming as I'm half vampire," I said sarcastically.

"Ness, do you see the way pretty much all of the guys at school look at you?" she inquired a little impatiently.

"Yes. Why?" I repeated.

"That's the way Jacob thinks and feels about you, only he's smart enough not to express it around your father," she told me, rolling her eyes. "Only I don't know how he's going to contain his thoughts when you walk down the stairs today. Edward will already have a hard time not yelling at Ryan."

I was shocked. "Wait... Jacob thinks that I'm...hot?" I asked.

"Sweetie, 'hot' is an understatement," she said, tilting her head at me.

"And you know all of this how?" I asked her skeptically.

"Ren, I don't need to have mind reading powers to know that Jacob is madly in love with you. Actions and expressions tell all..." she said mysteriously, grinning mischievously.

"Can we go downstairs now?" I asked her, sighing.

"After you take a shower to get the salt water out of your hair so I can style it," she answered, smiling. Then she narrowed her eyes at me a little, studying me. "You won't need make-up. You're already extraordinarily beautiful," she said, smiling at me. She quickly hung the garment bags back in my closet and set out a pair of black high heels.

I sighed and went to my bathroom, took off the outfit, and folded it neatly, setting it on the counter. I took a quick shower, about four minutes, and dried off. Once I was completely dried off except for my hair, which I pulled back into a messy bun, not wanting to ruin my silk top, I changed back into my clothes. When I was done, I went back into the main part of my room where Alice was going to do my hair.

"Okay, what to do, what to do..." Alice muttered to herself, deep in thought as she studied my hair. Suddenly, she smiled. "I know!" She ran to my bathroom and came back with my hair straightner and crimper.

"Alice, do you really have to straighten my hair before you crimp it?" I asked her as she took a fairly think group of strands of my hair and pulled the straightner through it.

"Well, I don't have to, but it looks better," she told me, straightening another part of my thick, curly, light-brown, almost elbow length hair. My hair was so long because Alice and Rosalie refused to ever have it cut. They loved my hair.

When she was finally done styling my hair, she handed me my pair of black, silky heels and ran the straightner and crimper back to my bathroom. She was back before I could even put on one shoe. She took the high heels from my hands and pulled them on for me. "Thanks," I told her.

She smiled. "There. Now you are officially perfect!" she exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "Can we go downstairs _now_?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, smiling. She pranced to the door and I followed her. When she got to the top of the stairs, Alice put her hands up to indicate me staying there. She danced down the steps and into the living room. "Okay everyone," she called. The living room got quiet. I groaned. "And now, the birthday girl! Ness, come on!" she announced excitedly.

I walked slowly down the stairs, staring at the floor self-consciously. When I became visible, I heard two intakes of breath. I looked around to find the sources of the noise, though I already knew who they were. My Uncle Emmett, being Emmett, whistled. I looked at him and rolled my eyes. Veronica was looking at me with jealousy and pure hatred. My mom, my grandma, Rose, and Alice were smiling approvingly at me. My dad was smiling at me, too, but also glaring at Jacob and Ryan, but mostly Jake. Emmett, Jasper, and my grandpa were all looking at me with wide eyes. They weren't looking at me with interest, just disbelief. Ryan was looking at me with wide eyes, too, and smiling like an idiot, which made me giggle. And then there was Jacob. He didn't look at me like Ryan did. He wasn't drooling like Alice said he would, or whistling jokingly like my uncle Emmett was. He was different. He didn't look at me with interest, or that much, anyway. He looked at me in awe. Yes, his eyes were still wide, his lips slightly parted for a smile. He looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing to ever walk this earth. His leg muscles looked tensed, like he was trying not to run to me, like he was keeping his feet rooted to the ground. I met his eyes, and his face lit up like fireworks on Independence Day when I smiled at him. I wanted to look into his mind, to find out what he was thinking that made my dad so angry that he was staring daggers at him, his jaw was tensed. But I decided against it, for I didn't want my father to be angry at the both of us. I reached the bottom step of the stairs, me and Jacob still staring at each other, our gazes locked. At that moment, it felt like I knew my reason on this earth. My reason, the reason of my very existence, was to be with Jacob. Forever. It took me so long to realize this, and now what? What could I do about it? I was only seven years old. I knew what I was going to do about it. I was going to wait seven more years until Jacob and I could love each other. I sighed absent mindedly. I was still planted on the bottom step, staring into Jacob's beautiful, deep, smoldering brown eyes. I didn't know how much time had passed. But soon, all too soon, the beautiful, wonderful, magical moment was interrupted by Edward's throat clearing. It must have been longer than I thought. I slowly and reluctantly drew my gaze away from Jacob, looking into the love struck eyes of my boyfriend, feeling nothing at all. I could still feel Jacob's eyes on me, full of love and admiration. It took all my willpower not to stare back at him.

"Hi. Wow, you look...you look beautiful," Ryan said, breaking the connection completely.

I was a little upset that he had to talk and pull me from the extraordinary experience, but smiled politely anyway. "Thank you," I said, being friendly.

"Pictures!" Alice exclaimed, and picked up the camera from one of the coffee tables in the living room. Everyone had changed into something more dressy when I was getting ready, even Alice. Ryan and Veronica brought their clothes. "Okay. Jacob, Nessie, Ryan, and Veronica," she said, positioning us for a picture. Once again, I was between Jacob and Ryan, both of their arms around me, both of my arms around them. Talk about awkward. "Alright, now just one of Ryan and Ness," Alice instructed. She kept clicking the camera like a professional photographer. "Jake?" Alice called, eyes never leaving the camera's viewfinder.

Jacob walked over to stand beside me, taking Ryan's place, and put his arm around my waist to pose for the picture. Alice clicked the camera and we were momentarily blinded by the bright flash of light. In that moment, I questioned why I was dating Ryan in the first place. It wasn't to hurt Jacob or make him jealous; that wasn't my intention. But now we seemed to be hurting each other every second of every day. We've had countless fights since we started dating humans, and we hardly ever bickered before. So, why was I continuing to date Ryan? I realized that I had been trying to find a temporary replacement for Jacob, which was pointless and stupid. No one could ever replace my Jacob. _Ever_.

My aunt Alice took pictures of me with everyone. Yes, even Veronica. I had a _very_ hard time smiling for that picture.

"Ready to go to lunch?" Alice asked me, Jake, Ryan and Veronica when she was done taking her pictures.

"Yes, we're ready," I answered.

"Do you have the money I gave you?" she asked.

I grabbed my purse that was sitting on the coffee table where the camera was and put the money that I was holding through the pictures into my wallet. "Got it," I answered her.

"Alright. Be back in about three hours, at most. Alright? Everyone should be here by then," she told us.

"Wait...everyone?" I asked her skeptically.

"Yeah. A few people from school..." she trailed, avoiding my eyes.

I decided to leave the house before I got any more paranoid about the party. I didn't really have any close friends at all at school; all the girls were jealous of me. Who could she possibly be inviting?

My mind wandered as I climbed into the passenger seat of Jake's car.

"So, where do you want to go for lunch?" Jake asked me from the driver's seat.

"Um, I don't care. You can pick," I told him. He looked like he was about to protest this, but started driving instead.

After what I realized, I knew that I needed to break up with Ryan. Soon. But could I break his heart?

**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! I'll try to update soon! Thanks for reading and please review!**


	15. Bicker

**A/N: I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry it took me so long to post! I'm going to be going to camp for the next 2 weeks, but I'll try to update as soon as I can. And once again, I'm _really_ sorry it took me so long! I hope you like this chapter! Please review!**

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**Chapter 15: Bicker**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

It was about twenty minutes later when Jacob drove into the crowded restaurant parking lot in the main part of the city.

"What restaurant is this?" I asked Jacob.

"I don't know. I just picked a random place," he shrugged.

I looked out the window to see the sign. "It's called _La Vecchia _Italian Restaurant," I told them.

"Wow. This restaurant?" Ryan asked from the back seat. "It's pretty expensive, just to let you know," he warned.

Veronica wondered, "What does the La… whatever part of the name mean?"

"_La Vecchia _means 'the old,'" I answered without hesitation.

"Renesmee, you speak Italian?" Ryan asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, a little bit," I answered.

"So, you're bilingual? That's really cool," Ryan stated.

"Bilingual? Are you kidding? She can speak pretty much every language on Earth," Jake said, rolling his eyes and grinning at me as he pulled into a free parking spot.

"Wow. Really? What languages do you know?" Ryan asked interestedly.

"Um…I know Italian, Spanish, English,—obviously—French, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, German, Portuguese, and some others," I listed. Before we moved, my father, along with Carlisle, homeschooled me. They taught me pretty much all of the basic, common languages, which I learned quickly.

"Holy crap. That's amazing," Ryan said, appalled.

In the back, I heard Veronica mutter in a dull voice, "Yea, she's a nerd. She's so freaking cool…"

Pretending I didn't hear her, I shrugged. "Edward knows more than I do," I told him.

"How is that possible?" Ryan muttered.

I just chuckled as I climbed out of the car, careful because of my skirt. Everyone else crawled out of the car too, and we all headed towards the fairly elegant doors. I took Ryan's hand and Jake held the door for all of us when we entered. The hostess inside was a red-head and I could hear her heart stop for a second when she noticed Jake.

"F-four?" she asked, flustered.

"Yes," Jacob answered in his deep, husky voice.

The red head's eyelids fluttered a little at the sound of his voice. Her hands were shaking a little as she reached to get four menus. "R-right this way," she said a little breathlessly as she led us to a booth.

I looked back at the door where people were waiting for a table, staring after us incredulously, quite a bit of anger in their eyes. Well, I would be angry too if I was waiting for a table and people that just came into the restaurant got a free table as soon as they walked through the door.

The hostess set our menus on the table and said specifically to Jake, "Have a nice meal." She smiled and walked away. I tried not to glare after her. A couple minutes later, our waiter came to the table to take our drink orders. He looked to be about twenty or so, and was tall. He had light brown hair with natural blonde highlights and looked muscular under his dress shirt and tie. Veronica was drooling already.

He smiled at us, his brown-gold eyes landing on me. "What can I get you all to drink?" he asked, a hardly noticeable Italian accent lingering in his deep voice. His eyes never wandered from me. Well, at least it wasn't a girl staring at Jacob again.

Veronica was the first to answer him. "Can I have lemonade, please?" she asked in a sweet voice.

He nodded and wrote it down on his paper, never taking his eyes off of me. I looked at the table self-consciously. "I'll have a raspberry iced tea, please," I ordered.

He smiled at me. "Of course."

Ryan and Jacob both ordered Cokes. They were both also staring at the waiter, hate written in their eyes.

When the waiter walked away, I intertwined my fingers in Ryan's and kissed his cheek. I giggled a little. "Jealous, are we?" I asked him jokingly.

He stopped glaring after the waiter and looked down at the table. "No," he mumbled.

I just laughed a little more and leaned my head against his shoulder. "Don't be," I whispered.

About half a minute later, the waiter came back to the table with our drinks. He handed me my drink first, saying, "Raspberry tea for the beautiful lady." He smiled charmingly at me.

"Thanks," I said quickly. He set everyone else's drink in front of them without saying a word.

When he left, Veronica complained. "Why do all the guys always like _you_? Even Jacob, _my_ boyfriend, likes you," she accused.

"Maybe because I'm not _fake_," I said acidly.

Her mouth dropped open, her eyes forming into slits. Meanwhile, Jake was trying not to smile. "You did _not_ just call me fake," she said venomously.

"Um, yeah, I think I did," I said, glaring back at her.

"Jacob! Tell her not to call me that," Veronica said.

"Um...sorry, but I sort of agree with her," Jacob said quietly.

"_What_? Jake!" Veronica shrieked desperately. She looked back to me, eyes full of loathing. Talk about if looks could kill. Jacob didn't say a thing. "Oh, so I'm fake? When you're dressed in those slutty clothes? You're just trying to be someone you're not. At least _I_ can get a good boyfriend," she said, eyeing Ryan.

My hand was curled around my drink, and what she just said made me so mad that the glass cup was in danger of shattering everywhere.

Jake noticed this. "Ness..." he said in a cautious voice. He reached across the table to my hand that was around the glass. He pried my fingers from it, using about half his full effort. I was still glaring daggers at Veronica.

"At least no part of me is plastic. And Ryan _is_ a good boyfriend. And both Ryan _and_ Jacob are _way_ better than you deserve," I said in a menacing voice.

Then the waiter came back to the table to take our orders, his eyes locking on me again. "Is everyone ready to order?" he asked.

"Yes, I think so," I answered, looking down at the table. "Can I have fettuccini Alfredo please?" I asked.

"Yes, of course," he said, love struck.

"Can I have the shrimp salad, please?" Veronica requested, lust in her voice.

The waiter nodded and wrote it down quickly, remaining his line of sight on none other than me.

"Chicken and parmesan pizza," Jake ordered, glaring at the waiter.

"I'll have the manicotti." Ryan's mood was much like Jake's; hateful, jealous, and grumpy.

The waiter nodded again, totally oblivious of Jacob and Ryan's hostile air, and took our menus. Mine first, of course. Then he departed from the table with a last look at me.

I still wasn't over the whole quarrel with Veronica, but nobody brought it up again, so I kept quiet.

A brown-haired woman, a blonde man, and a blonde-haired toddler were sat in the table across from us. I didn't think much of it until the man looked over at our table and asked, "Jacob?" His expression was bewildered.

Jacob looked over at him. "Yeah. You're…Mike, right?" Jake questioned.

The man nodded. "Yeah. How's Bella?" the guy named Mike asked.

"She's good," Jake answered him. Wait. How did this guy know my mom?

"Oh. That's good. And Edward?" Mike inquired in a somewhat rough voice. This guy knew my dad, too?

"They're both good," Jacob replied.

"Cool. You look sort of different, but also almost exactly the same…" Mike started, tilting his head.

Jacob raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Yeah. So do you," he said.

Mike chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. And how are you?"

"Good," Jacob answered. "And I'm guessing you're married?" he asked, eyeing the brunette.

"Yeah. I'm Jessica. Wait…you're the guy from La Push, right? Bella's friend?" she said in an animated voice.

"Yep, that's me. I think I remember you…" Jacob trailed.

Jessica nodded. "Yeah, I was Bella's friend, too," she informed. "And this is mine and Mike's daughter, Julia. She's almost two," she said, smiling at the little girl.

Jacob smiled at Julia. "She's sweet," he said after Julia smiled a nearly toothless smile and waved at him.

It seemed like Jessica and Mike just noticed everyone else at the table. "I don't recognize anyone else…" Jessica said, turning to face us.

"I wouldn't expect you to," Jacob smiled.

"I'm Veronica. _I'm_ Jacob's girlfriend," Veronica introduced, shooting a glance at me as she said it. I saw Mike look between Jacob and Veronica questioningly, but he didn't say anything.

"And I'm Ryan," Ryan said, grinning politely.

"Hi. I'm Renesmee," I greeted, smiling at them.

"Hi. Nice to meet you all. Renesmee, you look like Bella a little, if I remember right. And Edward a little bit too…" Mike started, looking at me skeptically.

I told them the story I had rehearsed for school. "I'm Bella's cousin. My dad had about the same color hair as Edward," I said without hesitation, improvising the last part.

"Oh. Well, please tell Bella and Edward that we said hi," Mike said.

"Okay. We will," Jacob replied.

"Oh, and Jacob?" Mike asked, leaning towards him.

"Yeah?" Jake asked curiously.

Though Mike was whispering, I could still hear him perfectly. "You, um, have an interesting girlfriend… Not to be rude or anything, but…" He sighed. "Honestly, when I came in, I thought that you would have been with Renesmee…"

Jake whispered back a little flustered, "No… Um, Renesmee and I are just friends…"

"Well, maybe you should rethink that…" Mike said quietly as their waitress approached their table.

Jake said nothing as he returned the conversation to our table.

"Well, at least _he_ didn't fall all over you," Veronica mumbled, expecting me not to hear it. She didn't hear Mike and Jacob's whispered conversation.

I had to bite back a growl. "I'm sorry? What was that?" I asked her with false sweetness, pretending I didn't hear her.

She looked at me lividly. She smiled and smirked at the same time, trying to pretend to be nice. "I didn't say anything. Do you need your hearing checked?" she asked with false concern.

"No, no. My hearing is fine," keeping up with the sweet routine.

"How about your eyes?" she asked.

"What about them?" I asked, clenching my jaw.

"Well, if you've looked in the mirror lately, then they might be permanently damaged from the horrid sight they saw," she said, grinning and narrowing her eyes at me.

"Wow. Good one. You're just so funny," I said acidly without humor. "And it's kind of weird that you said that now. You know, after accusing every guy of liking me. Oh yeah, even your boyfriend," I told her, glancing at Jacob.

This time her eyes narrowed at me so much that you could just barely see her blue-gray eyes. "No. Jacob doesn't love you. He loves me. He's _my_ Jacob," she said possessively, putting her arm through his and laying her head in his shoulder.

I don't think I've ever been this mad in my life. Ever. She just called him _her_ Jacob. No. He's not her Jacob. He's _my_ Jacob. He's always been my Jacob, from the day I was born. He was mine. Mine and only mine. All of my muscles were tensed, trying not to lunge across the table and rip her head off. I was shaking uncontrollably in anger. I was so mad. No, mad was an understatement. A huge understatement. More like livid, furious, enraged, fuming…

"No. He is _not_ your Jacob. He never has been, never will be," I said venomously through my teeth.

"Oh really? Then whose Jacob is he? _Yours_?" she retorted in anger.

I had to bite back the confirmation I was going to say; Ryan was sitting next to me. "No. He's no one's Jacob," I glowered. It killed me to say that when he was mine, truly and rightfully mine, but I wasn't going to make Ryan any more insecure than he already was.

Veronica must have seen my expression and known what I was feeling. "You think he's _your_ Jacob, don't you?" she demanded.

"No," I remarked quickly. Too quickly. Beside me, I heard Ryan sigh.

Veronica was grinning in somewhat triumph. "See? Proof." She rolled her eyes.

"How is that proof?" I inquired, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Because you answered in the same second I asked the question. That obviously says something," she figured. Then she looked across the table at Ryan. "This obviously means that your girlfriend is cheating on you," she told him, grinning at me evilly.

I don't think I've ever wanted to kill anyone this badly before. Not Caius the day he killed Irina long ago, or any of the Volturi for that matter. Not Paul the day of his wedding when Jake and I were dancing awkwardly and he told Jake…nevermind. Just know that he embarrassed us to no end, and by the time the wedding was over all of my blood had risen to my cheeks making me blush and even Emmett gave me sympathy. No. This was a new level of despising, hatred so cold that it made Hell seem like a dream vacation spot. It was all I could do not to tear her to shreds right here, in a room full of witnesses.

Ryan looked hurt, but at the same time distrusting. "You're…you're not. You didn't, right Ness?" he asked, looking at me desperately.

"Ryan, I have _never_ cheated on you. I promise. You should know by now not to trust a thing that little…" I took a deep, calming breath and started again. "Don't trust anything she says about me, alright?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. And…I'm sorry, Ness. I should know that you would never do that," he said sheepishly.

I sighed. "That's alright." Veronica had started to say something, and I could tell from her expression it was nothing nice, but I cut her off. "Okay, look. If you want your pretty little plastic nose you paid so much for to stay straight and _not_ bleeding, you'll shut the hell up," I warned furiously.

I could see Jacob physically biting his lip so he wouldn't make a noise, but he still shook a little bit from silent laughter. I saw the smile and humor in his eyes.

Soon after—thank God—our food was brought out. The waiter still beamed at me the whole time. I wonder what his reaction would be if I told him I was actually seven, even though I was pretending to be seventeen.

Once again, Veronica ate hardly anything, picking at her salad the entire time. As usual, Jake finished all of his pizza even though two people would have a pretty tough time finishing it. I ate most of my pasta, but I was too full to finish all of it. After all, this outfit was almost too tight as it was. Ryan ate all of his lunch, too, though finished a bit after Jake. All of the portions were really big and filling, though sort of expensive. Of course, when you lived in a family that had centuries to save up money, didn't have to spend as much on food, a doctor in the house, and a fortune telling member who could predict changes in the stock market, nothing was expensive.

When the waiter brought the bill out, he wrote a note on a separate piece of paper for me. I fought the urge to crumple it up and read it anyway. It said:

_Hey. My name is Alexander. You are beautiful, may I say. If you get tired of your boyfriend, call me. My number is 926-5320. You can stop by my house any time. My address is 7591 Rullier Street. Please come and see me sometime. And once again, you are beautiful. _

_Love, _

_Alexander_

I had to hold back a little laughter at the note. At the bottom of the paper, I wrote:

_Sorry. Taken. _

_Renesmee_

I slipped the paper back in with the receipt before I gave it back to Alexander. When he was leaving the table, he winked at me and said, "Have a _very_ nice day." I smiled politely at him.

"Okay. That was odd and creeper-ish. Ready to go?" I questioned them. Jake laughed a little at my statement. They all nodded and we rose from the table and walked out the wooden doors.

"Have a nice day," the same red-headed hostess called to Jake specifically as we were leaving.

I think she started to hyperventilate when Jake responded, "You too." When Jake heard the girl's breathing quicken, he looked at me and rolled his eyes. I slightly shook my head back, grinning a little. Always the same reaction.

We walked back to the car to drive home then, this interesting lunch now over. Time to get back to the house and see what Alice set up for my party.

Oh joy.

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**A/N: I just made up the phone number and address. I have no idea whose they are. But they're not mine or anyone else's that I know... :) But I hope you liked this chapter! Please please please review! (reviews make me happy!) =D**


	16. Party and Presents

**A/N: Since Eclipse opened in theaters today, I decided that I would post 2 chapters today. It was originally just chapter 16, but it got too long, so... chapter 17 too. And I went to go see Eclipse at midnight last night... BEST MOVIE EVER! If you haven't seen it yet, you need to! It's so amazing! =D**

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**Chapter 16: Party and Presents**

Renesmee Cullen's POV

We pulled up the lengthy driveway to our house, greeted by numerous signs, balloons, and lights wrapped around trees. I groaned when I saw them.

Jake laughed. "You couldn't expect any less from Alice, Ness." He opened the garage door and parked.

I opened the passenger car door and stood up. Ryan was beside me. "Wow. Alice did all that?" he asked.

I nodded. "Oh, you haven't seen the inside of the house yet."

Sure enough, when I entered the house, I was immediately met by an aroma of mixed flowers and some snack food, too. "Alice," I grumbled.

"Yeah?" she called.

"Why?" I groaned. She just laughed her tinkling laugh.

The decorations got more populated as I saw more of the house. There were balloons and a snack table and more lights. In the corner of the living room, I saw a huge sound system. The room had been cleared of furniture to make room for a dance floor setup. There was an unoccupied table by the door, all except for a sign that said "Presents" in big, decorated letters.

"You asked everyone to bring presents?" I asked Alice incredulously.

"Yes…" she said, for once sheepish. "Well, you're seventeen! You should get presents!" she defended.

I sighed. "When does the party even start?"

"Wow. It's your own party and you don't even know what time it starts?" Veronica said disbelievingly and mockingly.

I turned to her. "You shut up." I turned back to Alice.

"In about an hour and a half," Alice answered me.

I groaned and went to sit on a couch in the other room. Ryan followed suit. I leaned my head against his shoulder.

"Hey, thanks for lunch," he told me.

"No problem," I answered in a bored tone.

He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "I'm sure the party's going to be great," he assured.

I sighed. "I hope so."

He chuckled. "Hey, I'll be right back. I've got to use the bathroom," he grinned crookedly and a little sheepishly.

I chuckled a little and sat up. "You know where it is," was all I said.

Once he was out of sight, Jake took his seat beside me.

"Hey, Jake," I greeted, still pretty bored.

"Hey. Sorry about Veronica at lunch," he apologized.

"No, Jake, you shouldn't be apologizing for her," I sneered.

He sighed. "I know."

"Hey, who are those people we saw? Um…Mike and Jessica?" I remembered.

"Some old friends of your moms," he answered. "They used to go to school with her."

"And how did Mike know you?"

He laughed a bit. "Now that is a pretty interesting, distant-feeling past story."

"Tell me!" I exclaimed.

Right then, I heard the bathroom door open.

"I'll tell you later," Jacob answered.

I sighed. "See ya, Jake." I knew there was no comfortable way to be around them both at the same time.

He smiled a little. "See ya in a little bit," he said, standing up from the couch and going back to where everyone else was in the party room.

Ryan walked down the hall as Jake disappeared into the other room.

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An hour and a half later, there was a knock at the front door.

"Time for the torture to begin," I muttered.

Alice shot me a look, and it was not a good one. Then she skipped to the door. As she opened the door, she greeted everyone. "Hi! Thanks for coming!"

The two girls and two guys are people that I saw around school but had only talked to a day in my life, except for one of them. I think their names were Lindsey, Jordan, Brice, and then, I knew Kristen. Lindsey was a blonde haired girl who was in a couple of my classes. She was dating Jordan, another blonde, who played football. Brice was a brunette and he played baseball like Ryan, but he also played football like Jordan. I knew him a little because he was Ryan's friend. Brice was dating Kristen, a petite red-head with freckles sprinkled across her face. She was probably my closest friend at school besides my family and Jake. She ran to hug me.

"Hey, Nessie!" she exclaimed, running up to me and hugging me. "Happy birthday!"

I smiled. "Hey, Kris! Thanks!" Kristen insisted that I call her Kris since I was her friend. Kristen was peppy and full of energy. She was really charismatic, and she was fun to talk to.

She smiled. "I got you a present! And I'm pretty sure you'll love it!" she said in her excited voice.

"Thanks, Kris!" Kristen pranced over to the present table and set a beautifully wrapped box on the surface. Kris reminded me a lot of Alice; she loved to shop, too. And the best thing about her, in my opinion, is that she didn't fall head over heels for Jake, like most of the other girls at our school did.

Kristen and I talked until some of her other friends showed up, so she went to talk to them for a while, then came back to talk to me. When most of the people on Alice's guest list were there,—73 people—the real party started, according to Alice. Ryan was off talking to some of his friends that he played baseball with, and Kristen was talking and dancing with Brice, and the other friends that I had were dancing or eating or talking, too. Then I heard howls in the woods.

I smiled brightly and ran to the front porch. Seth stepped out of the trees. He ran up to me and hugged me, spinning me around. "Happy birthday! Again!" he exclaimed.

I laughed and hugged back. "Thanks, Seth!"

When he released me, he really looked at me and his jaw dropped. "Um…whoa," he said, speechless. After a long silence, I heard him mutter in sympathy, "Poor Jake."

"Hey! I heard that!" I said, hitting his arm, but not hard enough to hurt him.

"No, no… I don't mean that as a bad thing, it's just that… I mean, you look really pretty, like, really, really pretty…" Seth shook his head a little to clear it. "Look, what I mean is that, you know, you have a dad that's a vampire and who reads minds, and I'm guessing he wasn't too fond of Jake's thoughts when Jake saw you like that. And if I were Jake, I would have a pretty hard time keeping my thoughts… um, Edward appropriate."

I'm sure I blushed. It was weird that one of my best friends thought I was cute, especially when he said his thoughts weren't exactly appropriate in front of my father.

"Sorry if that made you, um, sort of uncomfortable…" Seth apologized.

"No, no. That's alright…" I said. I heard chuckles from the forest.

"Shut up, guys. And girls…" Seth mumbled, looking at the ground.

I saw the rest of the pack and their imprints emerge from the trees in human form, all wishing me a happy birthday once more. I had no idea that they were coming for the party, and I was really happy to see them, since I had cut our last reunion short. I led them all inside after I had greeted them, and as they came in, all the girls stared at the Quileute guys. Embry rolled his eyes. The only sound was the music blasting through the speakers, the bass pounding through the house. Finally after a few moments, people started to talk again, but they were all still looking at the wolves as Jake came over to us.

"Hey! I didn't know you were all coming. Seth, I thought only you were…" Jake trailed.

"Yeah…" Seth said. "Well, change of plans…"

Alice came over to us from where she was dancing with Jasper. She groaned in exasperation. "You should have told me you were all coming! I would have bought more food…" she accused. "Lord knows how much you all eat…" she muttered, stomping her way to the kitchen.

Apparently all the wolves each brought me a present, and soon the present table was in danger of toppling over.

Jake came over and whispered to me, "I'll give you my present later…"

"Good idea," I said, grinning. "Is it the best present in the world? Or is that still coming up?"

"They're two different presents. But I think you'll like one much better than the other," he hinted.

"Please tell me!" I begged.

He chuckled. "Sorry, Ness. But it'll ruin the surprise if I tell you now."

I sighed grumpily. "Fine. Deprive me of my birthday present," I joked and stuck my tongue out at him.

He laughed this time, and then patted my head. "Patience, Renesmee."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, whatever."

"Have you danced yet?"

"No. There's nobody to dance with," I answered.

"Um…how about your boyfriend?" Jacob said a little sarcastically.

I tilted my head at him and smacked his arm. "Yeah, but he's talking."

"So? You're the birthday girl. You should come first, right?"

I sighed. "Yeah, sure. And where's your girlfriend?"

"Hell, I don't know. Probably flirting with Embry or something," he shrugged.

I shook my head. "Wow."

He smiled. "I know. Now go dance with your boyfriend. I'll go dance with Leah, I guess, since my girlfriend is most likely dancing with a different guy."

I laughed once. "Good luck with that."

He rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks."

I wondered why he didn't suggest that I dance with him, but then I remembered that Paul was here. Right. Stupid awkward wedding dancing…

I made my way through the crowd, trying to find Ryan. I finally found him near the edge of the room, still talking to some of his friends. "Hey. Um, do you want to dance?" I asked Ryan.

He smiled at me. "Yeah, sure." He led me to where couples where dancing to the upbeat music. The song was fast and peppy, so we didn't slow dance. We just moved awkwardly together, not touching, just swaying.

Then, after our awkward dance was over, a slow song came on. Or a somewhat slow song, anyway. I started to put my arms around Ryan, his around me, when Alice interrupted us.

"Nessie, come with me!" she said in a sing-song voice, pulling me away from Ryan.

"Alice, why did you do that?" I asked, irritated.

"I did that because I want you to dance with Jake at least once tonight, and he's too dang noble to ask you himself, so leave it to me, as always…" she explained.

"Alice! Why do you need me to dance with Jake?" I said grudgingly.

"Because I can tell he's about to die by dancing with Leah and you better get used to dancing with him sooner or later."

"What? Why?"

Alice stopped and looked at me. "Really, Renesmee?"

I sighed, deciding not to listen to her theories. "Whatever. Just do whatever you please. You're going to do what you want anyway."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Alice said a little conceitedly.

When she got to where Jake and Leah were still dancing very awkwardly, I could tell both Jake and Leah were happy and relieved to see me.

Leah said, "Thank God," and went to the snack table and then to sit on the couch.

Alice pushed me towards Jake. She took my arms and wrapped them around Jacob's neck, then took Jacob's hands and rested them on my waist. "Have fun," she sang. She danced away, back to Jasper, but still close enough to keep an eye on me and Jake.

"So, uh…" Jake started uncomfortably.

"Do you want to dance, I guess?" I asked. His hands were still placed on my waist, lightly touching me, but I could still feel his body heat through my thin silk shirt.

"Um…sure…" Jacob answered. He started swaying a little bit, and I followed his lead.

"This is kind of weird, especially since my boyfriend's standing right across the room…" I said, my comment aimed at Alice.

"Yeah. This is sort of, uh, odd," Jacob agreed.

I avoided his eyes, and he avoided mine as well. When the long, slow song was over, I removed my hands from around his neck, and he moved his hands to his pockets.

"Thanks for the dance," I said, grinning a little.

"Anytime," Jacob replied, brown eyes boring into mine with a little bit of regret. I wonder why he was regretful. Did he not want to dance with me?

I turned back to find Ryan without looking back into Jake's eyes, but I could feel him watching me.

"You enjoy your dance?" Ryan asked when he saw me coming towards him. I could tell he was trying hard to keep his voice calm.

I sighed. "Sorry. You know Alice. You can't argue with her, or else she gets revenge. She's like a force of nature. She always gets her way, no matter how you object. And I wanted to dance with _you_ during that song," I told him.

He smiled at me. Then he laid his hands lightly on my hip bones as another slow song began. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head against his chest as we swayed to the slow tempo.

I really enjoyed dancing with Ryan, but I wanted to really dance with Jacob. You know, without my boyfriend watching me from across the room and my aunt towing me to him and forcing me to dance with him.

When the slow song was over, another fast song started and couples broke apart to dance appropriately with the song. Ryan still had me in a slow dancing position, though the current song was extremely fast beat. He kissed the top of my head and held me like that for a while longer.

Then, interrupting us, Alice suddenly turned the music down to background level and called, "Cake time!"

I groaned and released Ryan from my grasp, Alice pulling me to a table she set up in the middle of the room with an enormous cake set upon it.

The candles were all lit, seventeen of them for show. The cake was beautifully decorated and the taste of the cake I'm sure was delicious since Esme made it.

"Happy birthday to you!" Alice started, and everyone joined in. There were deep voices on one side of me, where the werewolves were singing. But out of everyone at the party, it was between Emmett and Kristen for who was singing the loudest. When it came to the "happy birthday dear Nessie" part, half the room said Nessie or Ness, while the other half said Renesmee.

When everyone was done singing, I had to blow out the candles and make a wish.

_I wish that my life wouldn't be so confusing sometimes, and that the next seven years will fly by. Oh, and that I'll get my perfect dance with Jake,_ I wished, smiling, and blew out all seventeen candles in one breath.

Everyone clapped as I did so, which was sort of embarrassing. After that, Alice and Esme quickly cut the mammoth cake into generous sized portions, one for each person. Like I expected, all of the wolves were in the front of the line, save for Leah, who was further back. Even my vampire family took a small piece of cake to fit in with the majority. But I was the first to get my cake, and as soon as I ate a bite, it felt like I was eating a part of heaven. Jacob was second in line, so he enjoyed the cake's wonderful taste with me.

"Oh. My. God. Esme is officially my second favorite person on Earth," Jacob said, taking another bite of his cake.

"Second?" I asked, stuffing more fluffy goodness into my mouth.

"Yep. Second."

"Who's your first favorite person?" I asked, thinking I knew the answer.

"Well, gee, Ness. Who do you think?" he asked, sarcasm in his voice.

"I don't know..." I said, playing along and grinning.

"Well, she has curly bronze hair, chocolate brown eyes, and is devastatingly beautiful at this particular moment," he said, smiling my Jacob's smile at me.

I smiled back at him. "Okay, that deserves a hug," I told him, hugging him.

"Yes!" Jacob said dramatically.

I laughed a little and let him go.

After about ten more minutes of cake eating, Alice called out to the birthday party crowd, "Time for presents!"

I groaned again. Alice once again dragged me to a table, this time the present table, and pushed me down into a chair. She handed me a present from the top of the present pile. "Alice, why am I opening all of the presents right now?" I whispered to her, making sure no humans heard.

"Because I said so. Now open." She pushed a present towards me, one wrapped in hot pink paper. I opened the card envelope first.

"This is from Kiara," I told everyone watching. Kiara was in a few of my classes, and I had talked to her a few times, but if it were my decision on who would come to my party, she probably wouldn't have come. I tore the pink paper away from the package inside and saw a jewelry box. Oh no. More jewelry. I opened the lid to the box and sure enough, there was a silver beaded necklace and earring pair. I had to admit, it was beautiful, and even though I had more jewelry than I could count, I was still glad that Kiara was nice enough to get me a pretty gift. I smiled at Kiara. "Thank you! These are really pretty!"

Kiara beamed back. "Thanks, Nessie! I thought that they would look really pretty on you, so I got them."

"Okay, next present!" Alice exclaimed, handing me a bag.

I read the card. "This is from Paul and Rachel…" I said cautiously. I didn't know what to expect from Paul after his wedding, but since it was from Rachel too, it couldn't be that bad, could it? I shot a worried look at Jacob, and his reaction mirrored mine. Then I looked at Paul with a silent warning.

"Oh, just open it Ness," Paul said. Then, so no humans could hear since he was standing near the front of the crowd watching, he whispered, "It's nothing bad, I promise."

"Better not be…" I muttered. I removed the tissue paper and saw a box. I looked on the picture outside of it. It was a jewelry box, something I needed with all of the jewelry I have. I looked at Rachel and Paul and smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Rach!" I hugged her.

"No problem, Ness," she said, embracing me back.

"Hey, what about me?" Paul said, faking a hurt air.

I rolled my eyes and hugged him, too. A lot of girls looked at me enviously for that, apparently thinking Paul was cute. I tried not to roll my eyes again. Why do all girls seem to be attracted to supernatural creatures?

I let go of Paul and went to sit back in the chair. Alice kept handing me present after present after present, and soon everyone was sitting on the floor, tired of standing. When there was only one present left on the table, I let out a sigh of relief, and so did everyone else. This one was the present from Kristen.

The box that was wrapped was fairly big, and it was pretty heavy. It would be even heavier for a human, and it was a wonder Kris could carry it in the house. I ripped the paper away from the gift, seeing white and crème pages. As I opened the paper further, I saw the backs and covers of books, books that I had wanted for a while. I remember shopping with Kristen one day after school and we went to a bookstore, one of my favorite places to go. I told her how much I liked to read, and that my mom said I already had a ton of books. It's not like I couldn't finish them all in one day…

All of the books that she got me were perfect for what I like to read; romance. She got me about a dozen books. She was right; I did love the present!

"Oh my God! Kris! Thank you! You're so awesome!" I exclaimed, hugging her.

She laughed a little. "I told you'd like your present!" she beamed.

"Um…yeah!" I exclaimed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I repeated. I get really excited over books.

Alice then came up behind me and whispered, "Thank everyone."

I released Kris. "Thank you all for all of my presents. They're all really awesome," I beamed. I wasn't that good with words.

I looked at the clock on the kitchen wall across the room. Oh my God. It was already almost twelve o' clock. I looked at Alice.

She stepped in front of me. "Okay, as you all probably noticed, it's getting pretty late. So, you're welcome to go anytime you wish. Thank you for coming and I hope you had a good time!"

Some people that I didn't really know all that well started to leave as Alice allowed them to. Within thirty minutes, I was saying goodbye to Kris.

"Thank you so much for coming and for my present!" I told her for probably the hundredth time.

She laughed a little bit. "Thanks for inviting me! I had a great time! Wow, Alice really knows how to throw a party…"

"Yeah. She's had a lot of practice throwing parties."

"Yeah, I guess so. I better get home. My mom will start getting worried. Happy birthday!" she said as she headed towards the door.

"Thanks. I'll see you on Monday!" I said as she waved and walked out the door.

Then, there was only my family, the wolves, Jake, Ryan, and Veronica. The pack had to head home for patrols then, so Jake said goodbye, and so did I.

"B-bye, Nessie," Seth stuttered. "Dang it," he then muttered, looking away.

I giggled a bit. "Bye, Seth." I hugged him a bit, but it probably tortured him. Jake was kind of glaring at Seth.

Seth looked at Jake. "Sorry…" Seth said cautiously. Jake was still sort of glaring at him. "Ugh. Bye." With that, Seth ran out the door.

"Really, Jake?" I said disappointed.

Jacob looked at the ground, a little ashamed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

I sighed.

"Well, I better go too, Ness. I told my mom I'd be back by twelve thirty, and it's almost fifteen minutes after that," Ryan said.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'll see you on Monday," I said, hugging him.

"Monday?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. I was thinking about going back to Forks with Bella and Edward and Jacob tomorrow, so…" I trailed.

"Oh. Alright. Oh, yeah, I think I have this family thing with my grandparents and cousins anyway." He groaned. "Okay, so I'll see you at school. Love you," he said, kissing my cheek and walking out the door.

"Bye. Love you, too," I said.

Once Ryan drove away, Jacob came over to me and whispered, "Ready for the best present yet?"

"I don't know, I liked Kris's present a lot. How are you going to beat that?" I teased.

"Just watch," he said, walking over to Veronica. She immediately put her lips to his, probably because she knew I was near them. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the wall. Jacob pulled away from Veronica.

"So… I wanted to talk," Jake said.

"Okay, let's 'talk,'" Veronica said, trying to kiss him again.

Jacob held her out at arm's length. "No I mean actual talking, you know, like words," Jacob said slowly.

Veronica pouted a little. "Fine… About what?"

Jacob then said, with no emotion at all, "I'm breaking up with you."

Veronica's face looked hilarious then, and I had a hard time trying not to laugh. When Veronica could finally speak again, she screeched, "What? Why?"

"Well, one because I knew you were flirting with some of my best friends, insulting and yelling at Nessie, and your breath smells bad," he insulted.

If I thought Veronica's face was funny before, it was nothing compared to this. I buried my head in my arm and laughed a bit. I could imagine Veronica glaring at me, but right now I couldn't really care less.

"B-but Jake, I-I love you…" Veronica stuttered desperately.

Jacob shrugged. "Sorry."

Veronica looked mad. Totally ticked off and furious. "Fine. You'll come back for me. You'll regret this. Every guy always does."

"Sure I will," Jake muttered. "Now, see ya." He pushed her towards the door a little.

With somewhat of a growl, Veronica stomped off out the door and to her car. When she was inside the car I heard her start to sob noisily. Very noisily. I couldn't help it; I rolled my eyes.

Jake was smiling a little. "Like your present?" he asked, sitting on the couch.

I sat next to him and chuckled a little bit. "Um…yeah!" I hugged him. "You're such a heartbreaker, Jake."

He chuckled, too. "I know, aren't I?" he teased, hugging me back. "Oh, and happy birthday again."

"Nope, too late," I said, pointing at the clock on the wall.

"Oh well," he said. "Happy birthday anyway."

"Thanks."

Then, Alice pranced into the room. "Ness, Jake, come with me," she instructed, taking our hands.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! and in the next chapter, please don't hate me for the ending. Please. I'm too young to have an angry mob after me...  
Anyway... Thanks for reading and i hope you liked this chapter! PLEASE review!**


	17. Dancing and Secrets

**A/N: Like I said, I posted 2 chapters today since Eclipse came out in theaters today! And if you haven't seen it yet, then YOU NEED TO! it's such a great movie! (I went at midnight and got a total of 3 hours of sleep. I'm lucky I could even type lol) But I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for reading and please review!**

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**Chapter 17: Dancing and Secrets**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

We both groaned. "What, Alice?"

"Well, since you two didn't actually dance at your party, you're going to dance now. I took the liberty of setting up the stereo outside of your room, Nessie. You'll dance on the balcony; it'll be more romantic," she explained.

"Um…romantic?" Jacob asked incredulously.

"Yes. Romantic," Alice said simply.

I felt my cheeks getting a little hotter. "And is my father okay with this?"

"Well…yeah…" she said slowly.

"Alice, you're going to get me killed," Jacob said, groaning.

Alice rolled her eyes as we ran up the stairs, to my room, and out the balcony door. Then, she left us, locking the door to my room.

"Alice! Why did you lock it?" I said, panicking.

"At least an hour," she said, exiting my room.

I sighed. "Not everyone doesn't need sleep like you…"

She didn't answer, though I knew she heard me.

Jacob was standing by the door awkwardly, so I walked over to him. "I guess we're not getting out of here until we dance for an hour, so…" I said.

"What? Don't you want to dance with me?" he asked, taking in my exasperated expression.

I sighed, and then smiled. "Of course I do, just not on Alice's terms." I wasn't going to tell him that this was one thing I wished for.

There was music already playing softly; a slow song. _Alice…_ I thought venomously. I hesitantly reached up to wrap my arms around Jake's neck as he slowly laid his hands on my hips. We didn't look into each other's eyes for a while; we just slowly swayed in no rhythm at all.

I was tired soon, though; really tired. When you got up at six thirty or so and have stayed up for almost twenty hours already, you had a right to be tired. Without knowing it, I found my head resting on Jacob's chest, trying to keep my eyes open. Of course, the soft music and gentle swaying didn't help me with that task.

"Tired?" Jacob asked. I heard a smile in his voice.

I then mumbled something that vaguely sounded like, "Uh-huh."

He chuckled a bit. "You can sleep, if you want. I'll try to persuade Alice into letting us back inside…"

I wanted to sleep. A lot. But I wanted to continue dancing with Jake too, even though it was awkward. I forced myself awake using all my power. "No, it's okay. I'm not that tired anymore," I tried to convince.

Jacob sighed as we continued to sway. "Whatever you say."

I finally looked into his eyes. "Thanks."

"For what?" he asked, confused. He looked down into my tired eyes.

"For my birthday presents and putting up with me and making me laugh and… Well, you get the point." I smiled sweetly at him.

He smiled back. "Well, in that case, thank you, too. Only minus the birthday stuff," he said a bit jokingly.

I hugged him a bit. "And you're right. I did like my birthday present."

"I told you that you would."

I nodded. All of the sudden, my dad appeared next to me and pulled me toward the door. "Dad, what are you doing?" I said a little angrily.

"Your mom and I still haven't given you your present," he said in a bit of a hard voice.

"Yeah. Of course."

He led me to the living room where my mom and the rest of my family were waiting. Jake was following us.

"Edward! I told you one hour! It's only been forty-three minutes!" Alice screeched.

"Oh well. She's my daughter, not yours," my dad growled. Alice glared at him.

I sat down on the couch and Jake sat next to me. "You said you had to give me my present, so where is it?" I said, a tiny bit sour.

My dad stopped quarreling with Alice and went to get a wrapped box on the glass coffee table. "Here," he said, handing me the box. "Happy birthday, Nessie."

"Thanks, Daddy." I tore the paper off in one fluid motion and had a box in my hands. I opened it and saw a silver chain with two charms on it. "Mom…is…is this…yours?" I asked, looking at the diamond heart and wooden wolf. I remembered my mom wearing it every day, but when I looked at her wrist now, I realized that she didn't have it.

My mom smiled at me. "Yes. It was mine. But it's yours now."

I ran over to her and hugged her. "Thank you, Mommy. Thank you so much. I love it."

"You're welcome, Sweetheart. But I'm not the only one you should be thanking."

I left her arms and hugged my dad too. "Still one more," he hinted.

"Who?" I asked a little stupidly.

My father looked quickly at Jacob then back at me. "Who do you think gave your mom the bracelet with the wolf charm in the first place?"

I looked over at Jacob who was staring at the ground awkwardly. I walked over to him and embraced him. "Thank you," I whispered into his ear.

"You're welcome, Nessie." As he hugged me back, I was aware of his warmth, just like I was when I was dancing with him. Every nerve in my body was aware of it, though he was only touching my back. My father let out a low hiss, but I barely noticed.

All too soon, the hug was broken apart by Alice, who was handing me her and Jasper's present.

I sighed. "Thanks, Alice," I said, taking the present. I opened it and found a bracelet box. I dreaded more jewelry, already having gotten countless accessories tonight alone. I opened the box and found instead four slim pieces of thick paper. I took them out and inspected them. "Plane tickets to France?" I said, appalled.

Alice had a brilliant smile painted on her face. "Yes! There are four; one for you, one for Jacob, one for Jasper, and one for me!"

"Um...thanks Alice, but...why are we going to France?" I asked, confused.

"Um...shopping!" she exclaimed. "Paris has some of the best shopping in the world! They have tons of boutiques and tons of fashion designers have offices there, so we can get you something custom made!" She was out of her mind excited, but I wasn't, and as she explained it, Jake looked like he'd rather die than do what Alice has planned.

Alice was still rambling on, but I cut her off. "Uh, Alice, that sounds great and all, but I'm not sure Jake would be all that into it. So, in the trip somewhere, could we maybe not shop?" I suggested.

She looked a little hurt. "Well, what else were you planning on doing? I mean, what else is there?"

I chuckled a bit in disbelief. "Alice, seriously? It's France! There are tons of historical sites and castles and... Well, a ton of stuff!"

"Yeah, I like Ness's idea," Jake said, a little relieved.

"Alice pouted a bit, but then let it go. "Okay, fine. Now, you two need to finish your dance," she said, standing off the couch eagerly.

"Patience, Alice. Esme and I haven't given Nessie our present yet," my grandpa spoke.

Esme flitted over to me holding a present in her pale hands. "Happy birthday, Sweetheart," she said, placing the gift in my hands.

"Thank you, Grandma." I opened the present and found a CD case. Inside, there was a list of all the songs on the CD. All of my favorites. "Oh my gosh! I love it! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!" I hugged both of them.

"You're welcome, Sweetheart," they both said simultaneously.

Before I knew it, I was being pulled upstairs by an overly excited Alice.

"Alice! I can walk upstairs by myself!" I said angrily. Jacob was being dragged along next to me. We found ourselves on my balcony again.

"I know, but you wouldn't dance," she stated indignantly.

I whispered in her ear so only she could hear, "Actually, I would have."

You would have thought Alice was a five year old on Christmas morning. She squealed in happiness about what I told her for a reason unknown to me. But, from downstairs, I heard my dad growl, "Alice!"

Alice seemed to snap out of her thoughts immediately, jumping off the balcony and landing gracefully on the balls of her feet, taking off into the foliage.

"What was that about?" Jacob asked, watching the place where Alice disappeared.

I sighed. "I don't know. You know Alice; unpredictable, just like her visions."

"I know."

I walked over to the stereo and put the CD I was still holding in it and pushed play. The music of one of my favorite songs began to flow. It was the song "When I Look at You" by Miley Cyrus. I walked back over to Jake and put my arms back around his neck again, eager to continue dancing.

"So. Are you going to tell me who Jessica and Mike are now?" I asked.

"I already told you. They went to school with Bella," he said, a bit confused.

"No, nevermind. Let me rephrase that... Are you going to tell me how Mike knew you? I know you didn't go to school with my mom. You said it was an interesting story. Why?"

He exhaled and grinned a bit. "Alright, well, it was when your mom and I were still human. As in no werewolf, no vampire. I didn't even know about werewolves then, except for the legends. But me and your mom were really close friends. She asked me and a few people from school, including Mike, if they wanted to see a movie. They all said yes, but in the end it turned out to be just me, Bella, and Mike." He chuckled once. "Talk about awkward for your mom. She sat between both of us. We were watching some stupid, fake, gory movie and Mike got all queasy. It turned out he had the stomach flu, but Bella and I thought he couldn't take the movie. He ran out of the theater and to the bathroom and started hurling. Your mom and I followed him out, and while he was puking, me and Bells were talking about..." He took a deep breath. "Something pretty deep. Mike came out of the bathroom right in the middle of the conversation, and, well, it pissed me off. He liked your mom, in case you didn't figure it out yet. We both did...at the time. But long story short, I threatened him, he was scared to death, and we left the movies. The next day I phased for the first time. Probably why I was so ticked in the first place," he explained.

"Ah. Same old Jake, threatening people," I joked.

He smiled. "Yup. That's me."

"What movie did you see?"

"I forget what it was called, exactly. It was so stupid I just forgot it. But it was an action movie."

"And it didn't bother Bella? I never thought she was the action, bloody movie type," I said, mildly surprised.

"Yeah, she's not. But she didn't really pay attention, I don't think. She was almost, like, comatose after your dad left her. She didn't really pay much attention to anything."

My eyes were huge, as wide as they could go. My mouth formed an "o" shape in disbelief. "M-my d-dad _left_ her?" my breathing was a bit heavy. This piece of information was new to me. How could my dad have left her? More importantly, _why_ did he leave her?

"Wait, you didn't know?" Then his face was a bit scared. "Oh crap," he breathed. "Your parents are going to kill me for telling you that."

I was frozen with shock still. At this time a new song started, "Smile" by Uncle Cracker. My parents like this song too, they said it explained them. Apparently it didn't always explain them.

"Why? Why did he leave her?" I asked quietly, looking straight ahead into Jake's chest.

Jake sighed. "Well...it was obviously before you were born. And when I wasn't a wolf. It was after your mom's eighteenth birthday, and, from what I know, the party didn't go all that well. Edward left because he wanted to keep her safe, but it had an opposite effect. She became all unsocial, but then she figured out that she heard Edward's voice when she was in danger. From then on, all went bad. Your mom got some beat up motorcycles from her neighbor and she came to me. We fixed them and, well, your mom was clumsy when she was human. And stubborn. She crashed a couple times... Anyway... Right before Alice came back, she decided to jump off a cliff without waiting for me. This was when I was a werewolf. The five of us wolves were chasing a vamp dead set on killing Bella. Anyway, she jumped and almost drowned. I pulled her out just in time, but Alice saw her jump and die, since Alice couldn't see me pull her out of the water, she thought Bella was dead for sure. She told Rosalie and Rosalie told Edward, and Edward couldn't stand to live without her, so he went to..." He sighed. "I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but... I guess I'm already dead, so..." He took a deep breath. "Edward went to Italy, specifically Volterra. He was going to try to do something to get the Volturi to kill him. Bella and Alice hopped on a plane and went halfway across the world. It was a close call for them, but they made it out alive. But when your mom came back home with your dad, Charlie was so freaking ticked..." He chuckled a bit. Then he turned a bit more solemn. "That was the last time I saw your mom for quite a while. Your dad pretty much forbid her to." Then he smiled a little bit. "But everything is pretty much perfect now."

I was...well, speechless. After a couple minutes of taking it all in, I was finally able to talk. "Wow. My dad was mean. Why did he forbid my mom to see you?"

He smiled at me a little. "Your dad knew how close your mom and I were and he knew I loved her then. He didn't want to lose her, I guess. Another reason is Edward thought I was dangerous and unstable. He thought all werewolves were. I can see sort of where he got that from, you know Paul, but..." He sighed again. "It wasn't really fair. For me, for your mom, for, well, everyone in that situation, I guess."

"Wow. I missed a lot. Dang it," I mumbled.

He laughed a little bit. "Wow, Nessie. I don't know if you would want to be alive then. Your mom was like a trouble magnet, specifically with vampires. We had to fight a lot..." he said, cringing a little bit at the end.

A new song came on the stereo. It was "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. "What's the matter?" I asked worriedly.

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that...I got hurt really badly when we were fighting one time," he said almost reluctantly.

"How bad?"

"Like the whole right side of my body broken by a stupid newborn vampire," he grumbled.

"You're so brave," I said, hugging him.

"Yeah, just so brave," he said sarcastically. "Man, I should've stayed in Seth's place... Kid got all the glory that day..." he muttered.

"What?" I was confused again.

"Oh. Seth killed a vampire pretty much all by himself," he said.

"Oh. I see."

We danced a little awkwardly from then on. After a while he sighed in exasperation. "I can't believe I have to spend my first time in France with Alice."

"You're not the only one, Jake," I said, still agreeing with him.

"Well, at least I get to be with you and there's no mind reader coming," he said, smiling mischievously. Then the smile faded a tiny bit. "Well, I guess one is, but..."

I smacked his arm, not hard enough to hurt though, not that it would've hurt, anyway. "That's unfair. I can't just automatically read your mind and you know that," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

He laughed mildly at my reaction. "Calm down, little mind reader."

"You know what? Just for that..." I pushed out my power to Jake's mind, where a ton of thoughts were going at once.

_Good song... Wow, Bella was a klutz... Renesmee is so...gorgeous... I can't believe I get to go to __France__ without the annoying mind reader; it'll be like it's just me and Nessie... Wow Renesmee is beautiful... Yes, I'm Veronica free... Renesmee is so freaking hot... Now all Ness has to do is break up with Ryan... My God Renesmee is sexy... Why can't this be her fourteenth birthday?..._

I stopped listening then, a little shocked. "You think...that I'm...s-sexy?" I asked, appalled.

"Crap. You just read my mind, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh," I said, my voice an octave higher than usual.

"Leave out All the Rest" by Linkin Park then played through the stereo.

Jacob looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't find the right words. Finally, after a few moments of silent struggling, he let out a sigh. "Yes, Renesmee. I think you look...sexy right now. Of course you pretty much always do anymore..." he said. I could tell he didn't mean to say the last part. Confirming my suspicions, he mumbled, "Damn it!"

I couldn't talk. I wasn't sure if I should love that he thought I was sexy or he worried he thought I was sexy. I was actually surprised my father wasn't up here yelling at him yet.

"Nessie?" Jacob asked after quite a few moments of me not speaking.

"Y-yeah?" I said, voice high.

He looked regretful. "I'm sorry, Ness. If it makes you feel any better: You aren't sexy."

"That makes my dad feel better but not me. And especially not my ego."

He chuckled a little bit. "Look, Ness. I'm sorry. I...I can't help but think what's true."

"Would it make it any less true if I changed into my pajamas and out of this?" I asked a little jokingly, gesturing to my pretty skimpy outfit.

"Maybe," he said, considering. "I think that would put you down to extremely cute."

"Cute, hot, or beautiful?" I said, not really believing his answer for him, especially since he just said he thought I was sexy all the time.

He sighed in defeat. "Okay, hot," he said quietly.

I leaned up and kissed his cheek. He looked a little surprised. "What? You think I'm hot all the time, so that's your appreciation," I teased. I didn't tell him I thought he was sexy pretty much all the time, too.

I swear to God he can read my mind. "It's not like you don't think that about me," he joked. But he was right.

I giggled nervously. "Well..."

"Oh my God you do," he realized.

I sighed as "Hate That I Love You" by Rhianna and Ne-Yo came blaring through the speakers.

"Look, Jake. Yes, I do think you're...well, sexy. A lot. I mean, that shouldn't be a surprise for you by just seeing how all the girls at school look at you like...well, stupid love struck teenagers," I admitted, blushing, I'm sure, a deep cherry red.

"God! You're making this so freaking hard! No, your parents are with their stupid freaking rules!" I was appalled then, but that was nothing compared to what he would regret saying next. "God. I want to kiss you, Nessie. So. Freaking. Much."

I was incapable of speaking. But after a few seconds I got over it and breathed, "Then why don't you?"


	18. Guilt Trip

**A/N: ok, i really hope you dont find this chapter eally awkward or anything like that. cuz i'll be sad if you do. And i hope you like this chapter! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :)**

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**Chapter 18: Guilt Trip**

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

He didn't even respond before his lips were descending towards mine slowly. I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck as he pulled me closer to him. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs quickly, very quickly. But if we kissed before they got here, then they couldn't change anything.

Jacob's lips were still moving towards mine, his eyes looking deep into mine, seeming like they could see into my soul.

_This is it,_ I thought. _My first kiss. With Jacob. It'll be perfect. _

The song on the stereo changed to "Love Story" by Taylor Swift.

His lips were only a few millimeters from mine, and I could feel his hot breath on my face. We were staring into each other's eyes, and my heart began to beat faster as his lips were so close I could almost feel them.

I closed my eyes, as did he, as his soft, warm, velvet lips brushed mine. There were sudden sparks, almost like electricity. I knew we were meant to be. This was the happiest moment of my life. After a second, he moved his lips from mine, just to kiss me again, this time with a bit more intensity. I kissed him back, his soft lips molding into mine. It was pure magic.

Out of nowhere, I heard a sound like wood cracking and some glass breaking. Jacob and I separated from each other, though still close.

Though I already knew how the sound was made, I decided to look anyway. Just as I suspected, my dad was standing there, nostrils flaring, eyes slits. This was the scariest I've ever seen my father, or imagined any vampire for that matter. I had no doubt in my mind who would win the scariest vampire of the month award.

Edward was crouched into a defensive, hunting position with his hands curled into claws. I could hear a ferocious growl building in his chest. Wow, he was mad. Well, actually, mad, ticked, furious, fuming, livid, enraged, and completely pissed.

I heard Jacob gulp noisily, his breathing faster than it was when I was kissing him. My dad's glare was centered on Jacob and Jacob alone, full of hatred. I didn't need to use my mind reading gift to know that Edward's thoughts toward Jacob were murderous.

"Jacob Black, get the hell away from my daughter right now," my dad snarled through his teeth. Jacob remained where he was bravely. After a few moments, my father shouted so loudly that I had to plug my ears. "NOW!"

Jacob was still standing there a second later when Edward's fist connected with Jacob's nose. I heard a cracking sound and gasped in horror as blood started running down Jake's shirt. There was no doubt he had a broken nose. Jacob drew in a quick breath of pain before repositioning his nose so it wouldn't set crooked, since the wolves have super-fast healing. After a few seconds his nose stopped bleeding, too. But what surprised me was that Jacob didn't fight back when my father did.

_Wow, he must really love me,_ I thought in awe.

"No he doesn't," my dad choked out at me angrily.

"Yes, he does," I countered, determined.

"You didn't listen to me. Or your mother. You just had to..._kiss_ him. You had to kiss a _mutt_," he said slowly and venomously.

That made me feel a bit guilty. But that's probably what he wanted. I ignored him. "Jacob, are you okay?" I asked, turning towards Jacob. He nodded, trembling slightly in anger. I put my hand on his chest, trying to calm him. "Shhh. Don't listen to him."

Jake shook his head with an air of pain, but not just physical; emotional, too.

"You're right, Jacob. It is your fault," Edward said menacingly.

"What?" I asked.

My father just smiled deviously and said, "Tell her, Jacob."

Jacob sighed and turned to me. "I'm sorry, Ness," he apologized, not meeting my eyes anymore.

"What?" I repeated. "For what?" What could he possibly he sorry for?

"For kissing you," he said simply.

I was stunned. Didn't he _want_ to kiss me? Did he regret it? "J-Jake..." I trailed. I couldn't form an entire sentence. He didn't speak. But when I could speak again, I said, "I thought that you wanted to kiss me. That you _want_ to kiss me."

"I did—"

"Did?" I interrupted him.

He sighed in defeat. "Do. I _do_ want to kiss you." My dad hissed at this, but Jacob continued speaking. "But...your parents are right. You're too young."

"No, I'm n—"

"Nessie, you're only seven. I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of you," he said in a mildly hurt voice, though it had to be emotional since his nose was perfectly fine now.

"Jacob, you're not taking advantage of me. You never were. I want to kiss you, too, but..." I took a deep breath and began again. "I did what I wanted to, and you didn't pressure me into it any way."

Jacob's eyes glowed with a bit of relief, but my father didn't let up on making us feel guilty.

"Jacob, you broke our rules. Bella's rules, my rules. You promised, but then you broke that promise," Edward growled.

"I know," Jacob said. "I'm sorry."

I would _not_ let Jacob feel guilty about this. And I would _not_ let my father ruin my perfect night.

"Dad, why are you doing this?"

"Because he kissed you!" he shouted.

"I know he did. Who do you think wanted him to kiss me anyway? Because it wasn't him, it was me," I said.

"Renesmee, I'm not deaf. I heard him say 'God. I want to kiss you, Nessie. So. Freaking. Much,'" he quoted perfectly.

"Yeah, but then I was the one that suggested he should. And why do you hate Jacob so much? I know you're pretty much past the whole werewolf vampire enemy thing, so don't give me that excuse," I said.

Edward, looking vulnerable for once during this conversation, sighed. "Because he always tries to steal the things I love away from me. He tries to steal away my reasons for existing," he admitted quietly.

"What?" I was confused.

"Before you were born, he tried to take your mom from me. And she did love him, but not enough for him to replace me," he said, looking a little smug. But then the expression disappeared. "He didn't love your mom when you were born, though. Then he loved you. And at that moment I swore that the only reason Jacob Black was born was to torture me and make me go crazy. Well, that's how it was most times. And, Nessie, I don't want to lose you to that dog before you've really even spent time with your mom and me. You grew up too fast, and you're always with Jacob. But you know, if Jacob were to go away for a while and spend no time whatsoever with my daughter, then I may rethink the situation," he said subtly.

"No. I don't want Jacob to go away from me," I said sternly. That wouldn't even be a possibility.

My dad sighed. "Well then I can keep breaking his nose if he keeps kissing you. It's your choice."

"Or they can just stop kissing," my mom said, appearing behind my dad. She was looking at Jake with disapproval, not burning loathing like my dad.

I sighed, a little from sadness and a little from relief. I was sad because I wouldn't be able to kiss Jacob anymore. But I was relieved in knowing that my dad might not send him away.

"It was…um…only one time. Until she's fourteen. I mean, she can't go through high school about twice and not be able to kiss any of her boyfriends, right?" Jake said, his voice a little rough at the end.

"I would be able to live with that situation," my dad grumbled.

I inhaled, braced for my dad's reaction to what I was about to say. "Look, Dad. I'm not going to say I'm sorry, because I'm really not. If I knew what was going to happen afterwards, I would still kiss Jacob. And…Jake's right. I can't go about two times of high school experiences without kissing any long term boyfriends at all, and I'm not going to break up with one every week or something like that. That's not me."

My dad did seem to get a little more upset by this. "Who said you had to be dating a guy at all?"

I sighed. "Dad, you know as well as I do that guys are almost always staring and drooling when they look at me. If I go that long without a boyfriend, then people will either suspect something bad like… Well, you can read my mind for that one." He flinched. "Or think I'm hiding something or think I'm a loser or something. And I'm not going to date someone all the time," I told him.

"Better not," he mumbled.

I heard crunching gravel and branches and leaves beneath car tires; a sure sign of someone coming up our driveway. My mom sniffed the air and said, "Ryan."

"What? Why?" I was panicked. He couldn't find out about me kissing Jacob. It would hurt him so much.

"Relax, Renesmee. He forgot his phone here," my dad clarified, walking back through my now mess of a patio door. "Clean this up," he instructed.

"What?" I shouted at him. "I wasn't the one who busted down my patio door!"

He turned to look at me and said in a cold voice, "I wasn't the one who kissed a werewolf, either. So pick it up." With that, he stormed out of my room and stomped down the stairs. My mom followed.

I stayed on the balcony to pick up the mess of broken glass and wood splinters. Jacob stayed to help me, and we both used our full speed. We were done in about a minute, the mess in a small pile on the floor, since there was nothing to put it in at the moment. We walked down the stairs then.

"I'm sorry, Ness," Jacob said quietly on our way down.

"Don't be," I answered just as softly.

He smiled a bit. "You know, you're a pretty good kisser."

I stopped, frozen on the steps. I shook off my surprise. "Speak f-for yourself," I said. The whole "be cool about it" thing didn't work.

He chuckled a bit. "Sorry. But...what are you going to tell him?"

"Nothing," I replied and hoped that was true.

Jacob took a deep breath and exhaled. "Are you going to kiss him?" he asked, but it sounded like he already knew the answer.

"Well, now, yes. I mean, he_ is _my boyfriend. And you were my first kiss, so you shouldn't object it now," I said.

"Ness, you should know I'll always object it, but I'll just be quiet about it now," he teased, but I knew he was serious.

"Yeah, I know. You should probably go in the other room with Carlisle or Jasper or someone else," I suggested.

"Um...okay...why?"

"Witnesses. My dad shouldn't hurt you when Jasper calms him down. If he calms him down..." I said.

"Good idea."

We reached the bottom step and he entered the kitchen where Alice was cleaning up from the party and putting everything away. Jasper was helping her. Alice, of course threw a temper tantrum about the current state of Jacob's shirt where there was now dried blood, and she complained to my dad about it. I went on to the front door and out to the driveway where Ryan was just pulling up. I suddenly got butterflies in my stomach.

_Please don't let him find out,_ I thought to myself, dreading if he did.

Ryan parked and got out, coming towards me. My heart was beating louder and faster than usual with nervousness.

"Hey. Sorry I'm here so late. I forgot my phone," he said. "I didn't want to come tomorrow because we would have left really early, and I didn't want to wake anyone up," he told me.

"No, that's okay. And I'm sure someone would be up," I said as we walked inside.

When we walked in, Emmett was sitting on the couch watching a baseball game. "Hey, Ness. Enjoy your kissing session?" He grinned.

I froze. "Ryan and I haven't kissed yet, Emmett. You know that," I said through barely moving lips.

"Awww, I know that. I wasn't talking about you and _Ryan_."

I almost shook with anger. Emmett _used_ to be my favorite uncle...

Now he would he my favorite dead uncle.

"Emmett..." I said in a warning voice.

Ryan looked between confused and hurt.

"Oh come on, Ness. We all know that you and Jacob enjoyed dancing together a little too much..." he hinted. If it weren't for there being a human in the room, I would have lunged for him by now.

"What?" Ryan said in a hurt and stern voice.

I sighed and pulled Ryan to the couch in the other room, dreading the future conversation that was about to come. As I passed Emmett, I said, voice menacing, "I'm going to kill you, Emmett."

He just chuckled. "Good luck with that."

I bit back a hiss and sat down on the couch in the other room.

"You kissed Jacob," Ryan said simply.

"Yes," I admitted quietly.

Ryan sighed and stood up. "Do you know where my phone is? I want to get back home."

"I think it's on the coffee table in the other room, but please, just listen to me," I pleaded.

"Renesmee, I know enough," he said, going to retrieve his phone.

"Really?"

He came back holding his phone in his hand after a few moments. "Yeah."

"No you don't."

"I know that you two probably made-out," he said roughly.

"No, we didn't make-out. We barely even kissed," I told him.

"Why do I find that so hard to believe?" he asked.

"I don't know. Why do you?"

"I've told you this before," he said quieter.

I sighed. "Okay, here's what happened. I'm being one hundred percent true here," I said.

"I'm sorry, Renesmee, but I don't want to know your secret love life with Jacob," he said in a hard voice.

"It's not a secret love life, Ryan. Now listen to me," I said sternly. "Jacob and I kissed twice tonight, and they barely even passed as kisses. After you and everyone left, Alice dragged us up to the balcony outside my room and forced us to dance together some more. After forty some minutes, Edward came up to tell me that I still had to open the rest of my family's presents. After that, Alice kidnapped us and took us outside to dance again. When we were dancing, we were talking. And then he said...something. About me. And he said that he wanted to kiss me really badly. So...we kissed a little bit before Edward interrupted. The kisses seriously lasted about three to five seconds all together. But, Edward isn't too fond of Jacob. He's really protective of me, though. He yelled at us. He also punched Jacob in the face; that should make you happy. But then we went back inside. Then you came back. That is _all_ that happened, Ryan. I promise," I explained.

"Are you sure?" he asked, a little paranoid.

"Yes, I'm sure." In a moment's decision, I decided on my next action. "In fact, it went like this." I leaned toward him, bringing my lips to his. When my hot lips met with his cold-seeming lips, I almost recoiled. It was odd. But this kiss felt like nothing to me, meant nothing at all. I heard Ryan's heartbeat pick up into a really fast pace; so fast I wasn't sure it was healthy. The action and current state of his heart told me that this was probably one of the happiest moments of his life. I pulled away from him after a second, and then kissed him again, just like Jacob and me. I kissed him exactly like Jacob kissed me, my heart fluttering at the memory. I know it was wrong, thinking about kissing your best friend while kissing your boyfriend, but I couldn't help it. I removed my warm lips from his, and his breathing was uneven, though we had only been kissing for a few seconds.

"That's all?" Ryan said disappointedly.

I giggled and kissed him again, this time lasting a little bit longer. Once again, I felt absolutely nothing. I stopped kissing him. "You should probably get home," I said.

He sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I have to get up pretty early." He stood up and started walking towards the door and I followed him. I walked out to his car with him. "Well, I'll see you on Monday. Night, Ness. I love you," he said, kissing me again.

"Night. I'll see you later."

He drove into the darkness and I walked angrily back inside the house, my goal being Emmett.

"I. Hate. You," I growled.

"Awww, come on, Ness. You know you love me. I'm your favorite uncle, and you know it," he countered, thinking I was joking.

"Nope. Jasper is. And I'm one-hundred percent serious. You are going to pay, Emmett. Jacob, please go rip his head off," I said, still serious.

"Now, Ness, I know you're mad, but ripping people's head off is not the solution," Jacob said slowly.

"I don't CARE! He needs to PAY!" I screeched.

"What exactly did he do?" Rosalie, who had just come in from hunting, asked.

"I'll let _him_ tell you that," I growled in Emmett's direction.

"Emmett, what did you do," Rose said in an exasperated tone.

"Well, I, uh, might've let it slip to Ryan that…Ness and Jake…k-kissed…" he said slowly and quietly.

I could've hurt him more for telling Rose like that that Jacob and I kissed.

"Wait…you _what_?" she yelled at me and Jacob. She walked over to Jake. "How _dare _you kiss her, _dog_. Why did Edward leave you alive, anyway?" she snarled.

"Because I knew I couldn't kill him. Not physically, of course, but…" He sighed. "I know Renesmee couldn't live without him, so I wouldn't resort to that." Then his words turned cold and devious. "But _Ryan_ you could probably handle living without, right, Ness?"

"Um…why would you kill Ryan?" I asked a little worriedly.

"Because one; he kissed you. And two; his thoughts," he said, angered.

"Uh, isn't that the same as Jacob?" my mom questioned.

"Yes, but it would be so easy to kill Ryan. And…I hate to admit it, but…it would be kind of hard to kill Jacob. Well, of course all I would have to do is bite him, but…" he trailed.

"Dad, please stop making plans to kill Jacob," I said.

"Alright," my father said, tone a bit disappointed.

I yawned.

"Tired?" Jake asked.

"Yes," I answered, yawning again. "I'm going to go to bed. Night everyone," I said, walking to the stairs.

"Me too. Night," Jacob said, following me.

When we got to our rooms, we said goodnight and parted. Same as always. It was just like nothing had happened. But, I guess in my father's case, that was best.

When I got into my room, I grabbed some of my pajamas and went to the guest room, since my room was now connected with the outside. I changed out of the outfit Alice had put me in and into my pajamas. I crawled into the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin, smiling.

This was the best birthday ever.

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**A/N: like i said, i hope you liked it and didnt find it awkward and ya. :) thank you for reading! please review!**


	19. Confrontation

**A/N: Hey! Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. I was out of town, but I still typed. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! :) ****

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_Chapter 19: Confrontation_******

Renesmee Cullen's POV

"Nessie, wake up," my mom said, gently shaking me to consciousness.

I opened my eyes, still stingy with sleep, and saw my mother's beautiful, flawless, smiling face. "Morning," I mumbled tiredly.

"Hey, Sweetie. It's time to get up if you still wanted to go see Grandpa Charlie," she said.

I looked at the clock. Seven forty. "Are we driving?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't know. Your dad wants to―"

"Why?" I cut in.

"Because he's so paranoid. He doesn't want you riding on Jacob's back to Forks, and he knows you can't keep up with us without doing that, but..." She sighed again. "Your father will be your father. Now come on, time to get up," she told me, standing up.

I groaned. "He's overreacting way too much," I said, also standing up.

"Sweetie, he's overreacting because he loves you. I know you may think otherwise, but it's true. And we don't want you to grow up too fast. I mean, it seems like just yesterday that you weren't talking at all and  
taking your first steps..." she reminisced. I think if she could cry, she would.

"It's okay, Mom. I'm going to keep my promises from now on. Fourteen, right?"

She smiled. "Yes. But to tell you the truth, I honestly don't have as much of a problem with it as your dad does," she said. I could've guessed that from the way she didn't want to kill Jacob last night.

"Don't encourage her," my dad said, appearing at the doorway.

I rolled my eyes. "Good morning to you too," I said.

He smiled at me. "Good morning, Nessie."

"Edward, did you wake Jacob up?" my mom asked.

He hesitated. "Yes..."

My mom groaned. "Edward, what did you do?"

"Um...I may have poured a...a little bit of water on him..." he said, sheepish, which was out of character.

"Dad! Why? Did you even try 'Jacob, wake up?'" I said incredulously.

"Maybe," he mumbled.

"And let me guess, the water was ice cold?" my mom said.

"Oh, come on it's not like ice cold water has any effect on him anyway..." he defended.

Right then, a dripping wet Jacob appeared in the doorway. He was glaring at Edward.

"Good luck with that," Edward muttered, probably in response to Jacob's thoughts.

Jacob rolled his eyes. He spotted me and smiled a little. We still hadn't even talked about what happened, well, technically this morning. It was still pretty awkward. I still had a hard time believing it. I smiled half-heartedly back.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, I said, "I'm going to go get ready."

I walked to the door and past Jacob, avoiding his eyes, not that I needed to try to. I went back to my room where the shards of glass and wood splinters were now gone, but the huge hole was still in the door. I sighed and went to pick out my clothes, bringing them into the bathroom with me. I didn't usually do this, but there also usually wasn't a huge hole in my wall. And I didn't want to dress in front of a screen-less window in case a member of my family decided to go hunting, or even another vampire or wolf. I walked to the shower and bathed. When I was done, I dried off and got dressed into a T-shirt and Capri sweats, since I didn't know how we were traveling and we were probably going swimming at La Push again. I got a bag from my closet and put one of my hundred swimsuits in it, along with a beach towel. When I was done, I walked down to the kitchen to eat. My dad was cooking for me and Jake this time. Or at least I hoped he was cooking something for Jake. And that it wasn't poisoned.

"Oh, come on, Ness. I'm not that cruel," my dad said, answering my thoughts.

"Are you serious? You broke his nose and poured ice water on him!" I exclaimed.

"With good reason," he answered.

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes. Jacob came down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Instead of sitting in the seat next to me where he usually sat, he sat a few seats away from me. My dad secretly smiled mischievously as he did so. I just sighed and continued eating the food my dad had fixed for me. My dad stayed in the room, "monitoring" us.

When I finished my breakfast, I quickly set the dishes in the sink and ran out the front door, into the woods. I stopped by a small river that ran in the woods. I sat down on a rock that was by the rushing water, and thought.

Why wasn't Jacob talking to me? Was he avoiding me on purpose, or was it just because of my father's rules? Was he mad at me for a reason I couldn't figure out? Or, was he still mad at himself for "taking advantage of me"? Was he trying not to kiss me again by staying away from me? Or could he just have nothing to say? Maybe he just wants to forget about it, pretend it never happened. And if he does, what do I want? Do I want to live in the past, dwelling on my kiss with Jacob? Did I want to forget about it too? I couldn't forget about it. It would be impossible for me. Literally impossible. Every time I would kiss another guy I would think about that kiss, my first kiss. Do I pretend not to notice him ignoring me? Or should I confront him? I don't want him to ignore me, and I don't want to ignore him. So why was he ignoring me? Did he regret?

As my mind flooded with these questions, a single silent tear trickled down my cheek, making a dark line on my skin. I heard crunching leaves and felt the ground barely tremble as an enormous russet wolf appeared behind me. It whimpered.

"What do you want? I thought you were ignoring me," I said quietly, afraid my voice would crack if I spoke louder.

He whimpered again and nudged my back with his nose.

"Why aren't you phasing back so you can actually talk?" I asked.

He looked at his back leg and then back to me.

"Oh. You were in that much of a hurry?" I questioned.

He nodded slowly.

"Why?"

He touched my hand with his nose and bumped it up to his head. I realized what he was saying and opened my mind to him so I could read his thoughts.

In his mind, I saw me. I saw me dashing out of the house in a hurry. Jacob immediately got up to follow, but my father held him back, giving him a warning. Jacob ignored him and ran after me. He followed my scent here and now here we were.

I stopped reading his thoughts then, since they were now in the present.

"So my dad is mad at you now? Or, let me rephrase that: now he's even madder at you?" I asked.

He smiled his wolf smile and nodded. *Do you forgive me?* he forced into my mind.

"For?"

_Being a jerk and ignoring you. I'm sorry._

I hugged him around the neck and buried my head in his soft neck. I nodded. "Yes, Jake. I forgive you. But can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"Why did you ignore me in the first place?"

He let out a deep sigh. _Because I was afraid. I was afraid of what hell you would get at school if anyone found out. And I didn't want to get any closer to you, but I guess it had sort of the opposite effect. And your father would eventually break more than my nose._

I laughed a little. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Jacob all of the sudden shot straight up, ears flat against his head. A growl was building in his chest. I sniffed the air. Oh no.

Vampire.

It wasn't anyone in my family, it wasn't a scent I recognized.

"Jake..." I whispered so softly in Jacob's ear that I could barely hear myself.

Jacob quickly moved in front of me, guarding me from the impending danger. He gave me a look that said, "stay here no matter what," but I wasn't going to listen to him if he was hurt.

I saw a quick flash of movement from behind a nearby tree, and then a pale figure emerged. Their blood red eyes were between thirst and shock. Thirst towards me, shock towards Jacob. The creature smiled a malicious smile, mischief in their eyes.

He sniffed the air. His voice was deep and had a strange accent when he spoke. "You smell...intriguing," he said to me. Jacob growled. The vampire paced. It was obviously and older vampire; a newborn wouldn't have lasted this long without attacking.

"Why are you here?" I asked in a small voice. So much for menacing.

"What do you think?" he said in his strange tone. Then, he sprang.

Jacob was obviously the first to react, swiping at the vampire with his claws. He hit the creature and sent him flying into a tree, which crack and fell down, bringing a few others with it. But that didn't stop the vampire. He charged again, hitting Jacob in his shoulder. I heard a slight crack, and gasped. Jacob gave a short yelp in pain, but soon recovered. He dashed at the vampire again, biting it's hand clean off. The vampire let out a tortured scream.

I kept watching in horror as Jacob and the vampire squared off in a seemingly endless battle. Finally, all that was left of the vampire were granite, sparkling shreds.

I heard another sound coming toward us, but when I inhaled I recognized the scent of my parents. I immediately ran into my mother's arms, tears running down my face. My dad held a lighter in his hand.  
He and Jacob gathered up the pieces of vampire as my father lit them up, sending thick, purple smoke clouds billowing up in the air. My mom was holding an outfit for Jacob, since my dad probably knew Jacob didn't have any clothes with him.

Jake walked slowly over to my mom and me. She handed him his clothes and he trotted off into the cover of trees. Several seconds later, human Jacob was coming out from the trees. He meandered toward me.

"Nessie, I'm sorry. Ness, are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "I-it's just...I've...I've never s-seen a vampire get k-killed. Or you kill anyone, for that matter," I stuttered.

"I'm sorry," he repeated in a whisper.

"That's alright. I'm okay now," I said. I wasn't completely telling the truth, but I was mostly okay.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Once again, I swear he could read my mind! Or maybe just my expression. I sighed. "I will be. Can we go now?" I asked, eyeing the violet smoke that was still rising up to the light gray sky.

"Yes. I'll be right back," Bella said, dashing away.

"Sweetheart, are you sure you're alright?" my father asked me.

I groaned. "Yes! I'm fine! Can we please turn the attention from me?" I looked to Jake. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah. My shoulder is sort of sore, but I'll be fine in a couple hours," he answered.

"I'm sorry," I said this time.

"It's not your fault," he said as my mom appeared again.

"Here you go," she said, handing me the bag with my swimming stuff in it.

"Thanks. But I thought we were driving," I stated, confused.

"No. Your father is going to give you a piggy back ride all the way to Forks," she rolled her eyes.

"What?" Jacob asked, angered.

"Your heard her, pup," my father said, a smug smile on his face.

Jacob rolled his eyes and went back into the trees. He came back in his wolf form.

"Dad, that's really not fair," I said, walking over to him.

"Oh well. You're my daughter, so they're my rules."

"And what about my rules?"

He sighed. "And what are your rules?"

"That when we're going somewhere, Jacob is the one who gives me a piggy back ride," I said.

"Like I said before: my daughter, my rules. And I don't want you riding Jacob." He smiled. I could hear the double meaning in his words.

"Dad!" I groaned and jumped on his back. We all started running immediately.

It didn't feel right. I was used to Jacob, not my dad. I was used to Jacob's warm, thick, soft fur. I wasn't used to my father's cold, hard skin beneath his thin shirt. I heard my father sigh in exasperation.

About half an hour later, we were in the woods across the street from my grandpa Charlie's house. My parents and I emerged from the trees, and human Jacob joined us seconds later. We all walked to Charlie's front door.

My mom knocked on the door, and about a minute later, Grandpa Charlie opened the door. He looked tired. Well, it was about ten. He saw my mom.

"Hey, Bells!" he exclaimed as he hugged her frigid skin. He still didn't know the truth about my family.

"Hey, Dad," my mom said, hugging him back quickly.

He saw me. "Nessie! Oh my God, you look like you're eighteen. How is that possible?" he mumbled.

"Hi, Grandpa," I said, hugging him.

"Hey, Sweetie." He embraced me back.

"Hello, Charlie," Edward greeted.

"Hi, Edward. Hey, Jake," he acknowledged. He was still sort of unsure about those two. My dad because of something he did in the past, and Jake because he knew he was a werewolf.

"Hey, Charlie," Jacob greeted.

"Come in," Charlie said, leading us into the living room after closing the front door.

I sat on the small couch and Jacob sat next to me, there being only a small space between us, which Edward squeezed into, squishing us.

"Edward," my mom said disapprovingly.

"Fine," he mumbled, getting off the couch and going to sit next to my mom.

Charlie looked at all four of us, a million questions in his eyes. His eyes eventually landed on Jake and me. "So..." he started awkwardly.

"No, Charlie. They're not dating," he said to Grandpa but glared at us.

Grandpa Charlie looked at Edward, shocked. "How did you know I was about to ask that?"

"Because he can read your mind," Jake mumbled in a funny sounding voice. I giggled, trying not to.

Edward glared at him again and Bella leaned toward him and slapped his arm.

"Ow!" Jacob said, arm immediately going red.

"Oh, suck it up," Bella said, sitting back again.

Charlie looked at us even more confused than before. He looked at my mom. "I remember when you punched Jacob in the face and broke your hand. How'd you get so strong?"

I looked between my mom and Jacob questioningly, not having heard anything like this before.

"Mom? You were seriously stupid enough to punch Jake in the face?" I said in amused disbelief.

I'm sure my mom would've blushed if she could've. Meanwhile, Edward, Jacob, and Charlie were laughing.

"Well, I-I was mad at him..." Bella defended.

"Whatever," I said, shaking my head. "I can't believe you punched a werewolf in the face," I muttered.

Jacob laughed again. "Now, you could probably get away with that without injury, Ness."

"Yeah, probably..."

"Yeah, why don't you test it?" Dad asked. I glared at him.

"No thanks," I said sourly.

Wow, Grandpa Charlie could be intuitive when he wanted to be. "Okay, what's going on? Or do I want to know?"

"Dad, what're you talking about?" Bella asked.

"I'm talking about Nessie and Jacob. What's going on?" he clarified.

"Um...nothing," I answered mostly truthfully.

"Are you sure you two aren't dating or something?" he asked cautiously. He didn't like talking about this stuff.

"No," Jacob answered.

"Or something?" I asked, puzzled.

My mom laughed at my question and expression. She leaned over and patted my shoulder. "No need to worry about it, Sweetie," she said.

"Okay..." I trailed.

"No, Charlie. They aren't dating," my dad said finally.

Charlie still didn't look like he bought it. "Alright. But Jacob, didn't you...uh, what's it called..." he thought.

"Imprint?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. Imprint. Didn't you imprint on Ness or something?"

"Yeah...why?" Jacob asked, confused.

"Does that mean that...you'll, like, marry her someday or something?" he asked uncomfortably.

Jacob chuckled nervously. "Um... I-I don't know. M-maybe..." he answered.

"Yes," my mom answered. I looked over at her shocked. "Well, it's going to happen one day. Edward, you can deny it all you want, but..." she trailed.

Edward's jaw was tensed, but I knew he wouldn't do anything with Charlie around.

I was blushing, I'm sure of it. "So... Can we, um, talk about something else now, please?" I said.

"Yes, Sweetheart," my dad chuckled.

"So, do you want some breakfast?" Grandpa asked.

"No, we ate before we came," my dad answered.

"Well, didn't you leave hours ago? You have to be hungry," he said.

"Oh, we didn't drive here―" my mom started before my dad gave her a warning look.

"We..." my dad trailed off.

"We walked here. We stayed at a hotel last night, since we were here yesterday," I lied without hesitation.

"Yeah, we went to La Push for Nessie's birthday yesterday," Jacob confirmed.

"Oh," Charlie said. "You could've come by yesterday."

"I know, but we left La Push pretty late, and we didn't want to wake you," Bella answered.

"Alright," Charlie answered. "I guess that's fair. And by the way, Ness, I have a birthday present for you." He stood up and walked into the other room.

I inhaled the same time as my dad did. We both smelled it. Another one?

Vampire.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! I'll try to post as soon as I can. _Please review!_ :)**


	20. Out of the Ordinary

**A/N: Hey! Sorry it took me a while to update. :/ I was going to post this chapter last night, but my internet froze... :( But I hope you like this chapter! PLEASE review!**

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Chapter 20: Out of the Ordinary

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

As soon as I smelled it, I knew something was wrong. Two vampires in one day? After we've never come across an enemy vampire in years? Yes, something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Ness, Bella, go get Charlie and keep him safe and hidden until the vampires are gone," my dad said in an urgent whisper. "Jacob and I will take care of them."

"_Them_?" I asked in shock.

"Yes. There are three of them," my dad said solemnly, quickly jumping to his feet, Jake following suit.

"Then I'm going to help you," Bella insisted, getting off the couch.

"Bella, love, no. I don't want to risk your life," my dad said desperately, but he knew it was hopeless.

"No. I'm helping you. And I want the numbers to be even. I don't want either of you to get hurt while I stand here helpless. Nessie can take care of Charlie," my mom said.

Dad sighed. "Fine. But come on, we need to hurry up. Jacob, when you're a wolf, get help. Alright?"

"Alright but come on!" Jacob said impatiently.

"I love you, my sweet Renesmee," my father said as he kissed my forehead.

"Love you too. Now _go_!" I ran at a quick human pace into the room Grandpa Charlie was in. I heard them all run out the front door.

"Hey, Ness. What're you doing in here?" he inquired, holding a present in his hands.

"Um…I was wondering if I could see my mom's old room. I've never really seen it before," I improvised pathetically.

"Uh, yeah, sure," he answered, confused. He set the present back down and walked towards the stairs. When we were on the second floor, he led me down the short hallway and to a door on the right. He opened it, exposing a collage of colors that was mostly dominated by purple. I walked in and sat on the bed covered with a purple bedspread and sheets. He sat in my mom's old desk chair.

"Wow. My mom liked purple?" I questioned, surprised. She didn't seem like a purple person to me. When I inhaled, I smelled the lingering, barely there scent of my dad and…my mom as a human? I couldn't be sure. Then I could barely notice the scent of Jacob; my Jacob. Wait…why was he here?

Charlie's voice interrupted my mildly disturbed thoughts. "Um, I don't think so, but she was too nice to say anything. Are your parents and Jacob still in the front room?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Um…Jake had to go… Wolf business," I added when I got a questioning look from him. "So Mom and Dad left with him," I partially made up.

"Oh. Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"No, of course not," I said quickly. Dang it! Why did Charlie have to be so observant!

"Are you sure? Because you look really nervous," he noticed, tilting his head at me.

"I'm fine," I insisted, turning irritable.

"Does it have to do with Jacob? Is he in danger?" he asked frantically.

I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe. Probably," I answered, giving up the charade.

"Then we have to help him," Charlie insisted, starting to get up.

"No, Grandpa. We can't. Think about it; Jake is a monstrous wolf who has super strength and speed. If something is dangerous to him, do you really think we could help in any way?"

Grandpa sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I guess you're right… But…if that's the case, then…why are your parents helping him? Won't they get hurt? Won't Bella get hurt? My daughter?" he rambled off his questions in haste, not stopping for a breath.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, stop. They can take care of themselves, trust me. Please," I asked desperately, and hoping he doesn't question what I just said.

"A-alright," he said. "Wait… Are they human? Is my daughter human?" he demanded of me in a shout.

"Yes, of c-course," I said, stuttering.

His face went blank. He had stopped breathing. When he finally recovered, he asked in a quiet voice, "What is she?"

"I can't tell you that," I responded automatically.

At that moment, a pain-filled howl ripped through the air in the woods nearby.

"Jacob!" I screeched lowly, horror-stricken.

Tears flowed down my face as I fought to decide what I should do: stay here with Charlie or go and help. Deciding to do a little of both, I rushed towards the window, using my sight and hearing to try and figure out what was going on in the forest.

Why was I trying to see or hear what was going on? It was helpless. I was a half-breed; I couldn't do anything. I was frozen in a state neither helpful for being a human or vampire. I shook my head in frustration.

Another tortured howl.

"Go, Nessie," Grandpa Charlie said from behind me.

"I can't," I sobbed. "I promised them I'd stay here with you. And who am I kidding? I wouldn't be a help to them anyway. All I would do is get in the way and get them more hurt."

Charlie sighed. "I can take care of myself, Ness," he insisted.

"Not from this," I whispered.

"What exactly is 'this?'" he asked.

"I can't tell you that either."

He exhaled loudly. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because it will endanger your life," I said quietly.

He froze in the pacing he had started. "What? Why?"

"You just have to trust me, Grandpa," I said, turning back to him. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, of course I trust you, but—"

"Then stay here, and _please_ don't come out of this room. Lock the doors and the windows, keep as still and quiet as possible, put the blinds down, and sit in the chair. Got it?" I interrupted, my voice filled with authority. I was already whipping around the room at just over a human pace trying to lock the windows and shut the blinds when I finished talking.

He looked at me, a shocked expression on his face. "Y-yes. Of course."

"Alright. Thank you, Grandpa. I love you," I said, kissing his cheek quickly and dashing out of the room and down the stairs. I heard the door lock switch behind me. Good. It meant he listened to me.

On my way out the front door, I ran into a body. I panicked, braced for an attack, which I would surely lose…

When I noticed the temperature. It was hot, not cold. I relaxed a bit.

"Hi, Nessie," the deep voice said. I looked up and recognized Kyle; a young werewolf who I had just met yesterday at the beach. Wow, between there and here his impression of me probably wasn't very good.

I exhaled loudly in relief. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

"Your dad heard you think of coming out here, so—"

"Let me guess, he probably sent you here to make sure I would stay?"

"No. He sent me here to take your place."

Wow. I was shocked. Was it that bad?

"Okay. Thanks. He's upstairs, first door on the right. It might take some persuading to get him to let you in, but…" I rambled.

"Alright. Just go. I think Jake wanted to see you," he said, squeezing past me and the door and to the stairs.

That was all I needed to hear.

I dashed off at full speed, almost forgetting to close the door behind me. I charged into the woods to where I heard noise.

When I got to where the epicenter of the noise was, I saw thick, purple clouds of smoke curling up into the air. We weren't that far into the forest, but we were far enough away that the humans wouldn't see it.

My father was on the phone. "I need you to come down now, please. Run as fast as you can. He's pretty badly injured…"

From that I knew he was talking to Carlisle. I ran to my mom. "Where's Jacob?" I asked in a rush.

She looked at me with a sad expression, one filled with pity. "He's over there," she said, tossing her head in the direction she was referring to.

Without speaking again, I ran as fast as I could towards my Jacob. He was lying on the ground with Seth and Sam sitting next to him in their human forms. Jacob was still in his wolf form. The fur by his shoulder was matted and bloody, stuck together in clumps. Tears rolled down my cheeks uncontrollably.

"Jake…" I whispered sadly. He started to take his head off the ground, but stopped when he winced. I walked slowly over to him. I saw that his jaw was fractured to, the fur matted there as well. I lifted his head with one hand gently, while picking up his uninjured shoulder with my other hand. I slid under his head without moving my hands and then rested his massive head in my lap. I began stroking his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Jacob…" I repeated in gentle whispers. After a few minutes, I looked to Sam. "What happened? Why is he hurt?"

Sam took a deep breath, warring on whether to tell the truth or not. He sighed. "Well, obviously Jacob is hurt. Right before we got here, two vampires attacked him at the same time. One punched him in the jaw, and the other threw him up against a tree _hard_. He took care of one, then your parents came in to help. Then another one came in and punched him in the ribs pretty hard, too. Then—"

I cut him off in a panic. "They broke his ribs too? Can he breathe?"

"Yes, Nessie. He can breathe, relax. And only a few ribs were broken—"

"ONLY A FEW? Are those vampires dead? If not, I'm going to kill those bastards!" I yelled.

"NESSIE! Relax! He's alive, and he'll be perfectly fine in a few days," Seth said, trying to calm me down.

"I don't care! He shouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place!" I screeched.

"Nessie, it's over now! There's nothing we can do to change it. He'll be fine, and that's all you have to know," Sam said in his alpha voice without trying to.

Jacob whimpered involuntarily. I looked down at him and kissed his head softly. "It's going to be okay, Jake. Please. You'll be okay. You have to be," I chanted. I petted him between his ears, and after a while he closed his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Every once in a while he winced in his sleep, but it was never anything major.

About an hour and a half after my dad got off the phone with Carlisle, he was standing next to me. "Nessie, I need you to go back to Charlie's house with your parents, alright?" Carlisle asked.

Was he seriously dumb enough to even have to ask that? "No," I said without looking away from Jacob's face; he was still in wolf form.

"Renesmee, I'm going to need to re-break his fractures, and I know you won't be able to stand that," Carlisle said.

I flinched at the mention of re-breaking Jacob's broken bones. Hadn't he gone through enough pain today? "I don't care. I want to be there. And Jake wants me to be there, too. I know that for a fact. Please, Grandpa. Please let me stay here," I pleaded.

He sighed, defeated by my begging. "Alright. But we're going to have to take him to his house."

"Why not Grandpa Charlie's house? It's closer," I suggested.

"Well, is that okay with Charlie?" Carlisle asked.

My dad rushed in next to me. "Yes, it's fine with Charlie. I already asked him. Come on, I'll help you."

"Won't it be easier to carry him if he was human?" my mom asked, appearing beside my dad.

My dad pondered this. "Yes, but…" He looked at me and whispered, "She won't leave his side." He pretended like I couldn't hear him.

I stubbornly shook my head.

My mom sighed. "Renesmee, just while he phases. Please?" she tried to reason.

"No. I don't want to leave him. I-I can't," I said softly.

"Please, Renesmee?" my father begged.

I sighed and looked away from him. "Hurry," was all I said.

Edward sighed. "I suppose that's the best we can get. She's as stubborn as you were, Bella," he teased.

I could picture my mom rolling her eyes. "Come on. We have to hurry… Sam, Seth, please help," my mom asked.

"Okay, um…" Seth started, unsure of what to do.

Sam, having the alpha attitude he had, of course knew what to do. "Seth, phase and try to get him to phase back to human. Do anything you have to," he instructed. "I'll try to get him to phase back as human."

I was still looking away from him, but still petting his furry face. Sam tried pretty much everything, and after about ten minutes, Jake still wasn't human.

All the sudden, Seth came up behind me and nudged me with his nose. I turned around, still facing away from Jacob. "What?" I asked.

"He wants you, Nessie," my dad sighed. I looked down in my lap where Jacob's head still lay.

"Okay, but, what do I say? Sam, what do I have to do?" I asked him.

Sam shrugged. "Just say whatever you'd like to. Trust me, it'll help."

I exhaled, thinking. What should I say to him? I'd never been in this situation before. "Jacob, please phase back. It'll be easier for Carlisle to help you, then," I said. No luck. "Please, Jacob. Please phase back. Then we can actually talk to you. _I_ can actually talk to you. Please. Please, Jakey."

This time, he phased. I turned my head the other way so my dad didn't yell at me. When he was human and had his shorts on again, I could see his injuries more clearly, for they weren't concealed by fur. His shoulder was probably the worst, lying at an odd angle. He was having a harder time than usual breathing, because of his ribs.

When we got to Charlie's house, Sam and Seth carried him to my mom's old room. He was laid on the bed. I sat down on the desk chair. Carlisle immediately started working on him.

No matter how many times my parents tried to coax me out, I stayed in the room. No matter how many times Carlisle said to go downstairs, I never left. The only person who could get me out of that room was Jacob.

Carlisle was right; I did have a hard time watching him re-break Jacob's fractures. But I wasn't going to leave Jacob's side, even for that. I just kept telling him it would be okay, even if it wouldn't be. And after today, I had no absolute idea if it was going to be okay or not.

It was hard to believe that just this morning—technically—was perfect. It was hard to believe that things could turn so tragic in a few seconds. But I guess that the world is cruel sometimes. Wow, life can suck.

After a couple hours, Carlisle was done working on Jacob. He pulled me into the hallway outside the room, which I was reluctant about.

"He just needs some rest, Nessie. Please don't bother him," Carlisle said.

I groaned. "Why does everyone think I'll bother him?" I asked quietly.

He sighed. "We don't, but we just want to make sure. Alright?"

"Yes, Grandpa. And thank you," I said, hugging him.

He embraced me back. "No problem, Sweetheart. It's what I do." He smiled. "I have to get back to work now," he said, releasing me.

"Okay. Bye, Grandpa." I walked back into the room and pulled the desk chair up beside the head of the bed.

After about an hour of unconscious Jacob, I stood and started to look around the room. The room wasn't totally bare, but there wasn't a ton in it. I walked over to my mom's desk and looked at some of the pictures that still stayed there. There was a picture of my mom and dad, when my mom was still human. It was creased down the middle, which didn't make sense to me. Then there was a picture of Jacob and my mom. I smiled. Jacob didn't look different at all, while my mom looked tons different, since she was human then. Then there was a picture of Grandpa Charlie and my dad, and a picture of Mom and Grandpa. There was a scrapbook sitting on the floor by the desk. I picked it up and started leafing through it, seeing pictures of what I assumed to be Forks High School. I saw Alice and Bella and Edward, along with some other people that I didn't completely recognize. Then I saw another picture of Jacob. He was standing in the woods at La Push; I could tell. He was shirtless, like he almost always was when he wasn't forced to wear a shirt.

I heard a sound behind me, and turned quickly. I went back to my seat when I saw Jacob's eyes barely open.

"Jacob!" I exclaimed lowly.

He partially smiled at me, because of his jaw. "Hey, Ness," he said in a weak whisper.

"Are you okay? Well, stupid question, but…"

He chuckled a little, then winced. "Yeah, I feel fine, I guess. My ribs still hurt a little, but, I'm overall okay," he answered.

"Okay. God, I wish I could hug you. Damn vampires," I grumbled.

He laughed, which caused him pain. "You have _got_ to stop doing that."

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

He smiled back. "It's okay. And you can hug me. I still have one good arm, right?"

My smile grew wider. "Yeah, I suppose." I walked around to the other side of the bed, where his good arm was, and hugged him, trying to be as careful as possible. "Love you, Jake."

"Love you, too, Ness. And thank you for staying with me for hours," he thanked, kissing the top of my head.

"No problem. You wanted me to, and I wanted to, so…"

He slid over to the edge of the bed and patted the space next to him.

"Are you kidding? My dad would kill me. And you," I said.

"Oh, come on. He can't be that cruel, and he wouldn't really hurt me more when I'm already hurt, would he?" he said, reasoning.

I sighed and sat down on the edge, swinging my legs onto the bed. I sat up, leaning my head against the headboard. "There. Happy?"

"Yes."

"I have a question," I started.

"And that question would be…?" he asked.

"Um…well, when I came up here earlier, I could smell your scent. Barely, but I knew it was you. I also smelled my dad, and obviously my mom, and I can see why they would be here, but…you?" I asked, getting disturbed again.

He read my expression and smiled. "Nothing like that, Ness. Nothing bad at all. And I've only been here a few times. All when I was a werewolf," he said. I exhaled in relief.

"Thank God. Sorry, but I have a hard enough time thinking of my parents like that. But you and my mom?" I shuddered.

He laughed, closely followed by a grimace.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"No, that's okay. Really," he tried to assure me.

I sighed. "No, it's not."

It was silent for the next fifteen minutes, then my dad opened the door. He looked at us disapprovingly.

"Really Jacob? You can't keep your hands off my daughter for more than a day now?" he said in an angered tone.

"Dad, what are you talking about? You know we did nothing," I said.

"Yeah, well, you didn't read his thoughts all this while. They make me want to break his other arm," he snarled lowly.

I looked at Jake, surprised. "Really? Y-you were thinking of me?"

"Well, it's kind of hard not to, seeming as you're sitting next to me right now," Jacob said, a light pink color filling his cheeks under his tan skin.

I giggled a little. "Are you blushing, Jake?"

My dad laughed. "Yes, yes he is."

"I am not!" he denied, but it was clear that he did. He tried to sit up, a reflex reaction, but let out a sound of pain.

I just giggled more. "It's okay, Jake. It's kind of cute," I said, kissing his cheek quickly. A small growl escaped through my dad's bared teeth.

"Stop thinking right now, mutt," Edward said fiercely.

"Are you kidding me? Not thinking is like not breathing," Jacob answered.

"That works too," Edward said acidly.

"Dad! Stop. You're not making anything better," I said, irritated.

He sighed. "Sorry. But Nessie, I need to talk to you downstairs for a minute."

I sighed and stood up. I followed him out the door and down the stairs. My mom and Grandpa were in the living room, sitting and talking. When Charlie saw me, he asked, "Is Jacob alright?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine. He heals quickly," I said, smiling genuinely.

He relaxed a bit. "Alright."

My dad, without saying a word, walked out the front door and into the front lawn.

"I thought you said downstairs, not outside," I said irritably.

"I know, but I didn't want Charlie to overhear."

"So?" I asked, prompting him to speak.

"Well, you should know the situation. First of all, there weren't just three vampires," he started slowly.

"What? I thought you said there were only three! How could you not know?"

"Well, they were far enough away that I couldn't read their minds or smell them at the time. And the other three weren't thinking about the others," he explained.

"Then how many were there?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Eight," he said quietly.

I was shocked. Eight vampires together? I'd only come across that twice. My family and the Volturi. And of course the gathering when we fought the Volturi, but that wasn't on a regular basis. "How old were they? And how are you all alive?" I asked, my voice coming out in a croak.

"The wolves showed up just in time, and they killed most of the vampires. Some of the vampires were older, some of them were newborns."

"How does that make sense?" I asked, more to myself than him.

"I don't know," he answered anyway. "I think they're after us for some reason, but I can't figure out why. Alice hasn't seen the Volturi make any decisions, so I don't see how they could be behind this. And there's no one left from Bella being hunted when human. Or, that I remember, anyway. And you know my memory," he said, tapping his head.

I was speechless. We were being hunted?

Yes, something was wrong. Very wrong.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! You're awesome! PLEASE REVIEW! :)**


	21. Hunted

**A/N: Hi! Sorry that it took me almost a week to post... :( I kept changing ideas and everything... So yeah. I'm sorry. And also, aorry I'm posting this so late. I just finished re-reading it so I could post it. Now I'm really tired lol. And the next chapter might be short, but I'm fairly certain it will also be sweet. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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_**Chapter 21: Hunted**_

**Renesmee Cullen's POV**

My chest felt heavy, like I couldn't breathe. When I could talk and actually breath normally again, I asked, "Dad, can we run?"

He sighed. "Well, we could, but I don't want to leave Charlie and the Quileutes here, even if they do have the wolves. I don't want to feel like we could've done something, but we didn't. And apparently it's us they want."

I looked down at the green grass below my feet. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I-I'm scared, Dad. What will happen?" I asked, fright coating my voice.

For the first time in my life, my father looked scared. "I don't know, Sweetheart. No one can be sure."

I looked up at the sky. Gray clouds were floating across the sky, dominating the sun. It wasn't necessarily cold outside, but in that moment I was cold with horror. I never thought I could get cold, since I was only a few degrees cooler than Jacob, but today I was proven wrong. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to warm up. I wasn't physically cold, but my mind was afraid. Just the very thought of my family and Jacob and the Quileutes being hunted made me frigid, freezing me down to my core. I shivered involuntarily.

"Are you cold?" Edward asked me.

"Y-yeah. A little bit."

My dad took my arm and walked me inside. My mom must have seen the scared expression on my face, because she asked in a panicked voice, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little cold, that's all. I'm, uh, going to go check on Jake," I said, lying at first.

_Should I tell him?_ I thought towards my dad.

_No. Not yet,_ he forced into my head.

I sighed and walked through the kitchen and to the stairs. I ran up them as soon as I was out of Grandpa's sight. I entered the room Jake was still lying in and sat back down on the bed. I didn't know if it was today's events, my lack of sleep, or a combination of both, but I was exhausted. I closed my eyes, planning just on resting for a while. Jake didn't say anything, and that's probably why I fell asleep.

* * *

"Nessie, Sweetheart, wake up. It's time to go home."

I opened my still tired eyes and saw my father's liquid topaz eyes staring into mine. I turned my head the other way, looking for Jacob. I didn't see him, but I saw a digital alarm clock. The bright red letters read seven-thirty two p.m.

"He's already in the car," my dad informed me, answering where Jake was.

"Oh," I mumbled sleepily. Then my head cleared up a little. "Wait, what car? We didn't drive here."

"I know. I went out and bought a car while you were sleeping. I had to bribe the salesman to let me have the car today, and luckily your mom was with me," he told me.

"Ah," was all I said. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. My dad stood too, and we started downstairs. When we got to the front room, I saw Grandpa Charlie sitting on the couch, a worried and scared expression on his face. His color wasn't the best; clammy and pale. I walked over to him, but he seemed to shy away from me. I stepped away from him a bit.

He exhaled. "I'm sorry, Nessie. I'm fine." He faked a smile.

I slowly advanced toward him again and gave him a short hug. "Bye, Grandpa. Love you."

"Bye, Nessie. Love you, too." He let go of me as soon as he could, and I walked back over to my dad.

When Edward and I were out of the front door, I asked him, "Does he know?"

My father sighed. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to pretend he didn't know what I was talking about. Well, that was hard to convince someone of when they knew you could read their mind.

"You know what I'm talking about. Does he know that you and mom are vampires?" I clarified.

My father looked straight forward out to the darkening sky. "Yes."

"D-did you tell him? Who told him?" I asked, shocked. No wonder he was so scared of me.

"No. No one told him. He guessed. Apparently he's very observant..." he trailed.

"What? What about the Volturi?" I exclaimed, appalled.

He sighed again. "I thought about that. But...he guessed. And as long as we don't run into them, then it shouldn't be a problem. But...if it gets too out of control and the Volturi come to warn us, then..."

I let my imagination finish his sentence. If the Volturi come to warn us, then Charlie will have to become a vampire.

"Yes," my dad breathed.

"D-does mom know this?" I asked, dreading her wrath and sadness and shock if she didn't.

"I'll tell her tonight. You'll be asleep; you shouldn't be able to hear her 'wrath,'" he said, quoting me.

I sighed this time. "Alright."

We reached the car that my father had bought, a Mustang, and I climbed into the backseat next to Jake. My dad sat in the driver's seat.

"Hey, sleepy head," Jake greeted me, smiling.

I rolled my eyes and grinned back. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Better. I still have to wear the stupid brace for my shoulder, but...oh well." He shrugged with his right shoulder.

The thought of the vampires that hurt my Jacob filled my head again, making me mad. But the angry feeling I felt was taken over by fear when I thought again that we were being stalked and hunted. It made me cold again. I shivered.

"Are you cold?" Jake asked me.

"Um...a little. Yeah."

He scooted closer to me and I to him, putting his arm around my shoulder. I started to warm up immediately. All this time, I thought Jacob was warmer than any other wolf. It could be some generic thing, but I always believed that it was because Jacob was so sweet and caring. He was the most amazing person I'd ever met.

"Better?" Jake asked me.

I nodded, snuggling closer to him. His warmth was so refreshing after the frigidness I'd felt.

My dad looked upset as usual, but knew I was cold, so he didn't do anything about it. He turned on the radio to a country station. I groaned.

"Country, Dad?" I asked in disbelief. All my life, my father had never shown a preference for country music, so I was confused.

"Yes, country. My car, my music," he said, smirking. He knew Jake wasn't crazy about country, that's probably why he picked it. "Yep," he confirmed.

"Dad, that's mean," I said.

"What?" Jake asked.

"He picked the station because—" I started.

"No reason," my dad interrupted.

"That's mean too," I stated.

He just chuckled. After a while I began to doze off again. I was still barely conscious when I heard their conversation.

"So, Edward, what's going on?" Jake asked him. His arms were still around me, keeping me warm. I had a feeling that I would need his heat for the coming conversation.

Daddy sighed. "Well, I think there are some vampires after us. 'Some' as in more than ten."

"What?" Jake exclaimed in disbelief. "There were eight today, right? And they all got killed?"

"Yes. There were eight vampires today. And yes, they all got killed. I have to give you credit for remembering that, since Carlisle gave you tons of medicine. Wow, you must've been loopy. I wish I could've seen that," Dad said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Jake said sarcastically. I could almost hear him roll his eyes. Then his tone was serious. "What are we going to do about it?"

Edward sighed. "I don't know for sure. I suppose we'll have to fight again."

"Wow, it's like Bella all over again," Jacob said in a teasing tone.

"Hey!" Mom exclaimed.

I could feel Jake shrug. "You know it's true, Bells. You can't deny it. You were a vamp magnet."

My mom laughed at Jake's statement. "This is true, Jake."

"And don't forget smelly dog magnet, too," my dad added. My mom laughed a little more.

"Also true," she said.

Jacob changed the subject back to serious. "So, if there were eight vampires today, and they all got killed, then they must have a big army, right?" His voice was like a voice I would never associate with Jacob. It was…almost scared.

"Yeah," my dad answered, his voice mirroring Jacob's; fear.

"What if… What if we lose?" Bella asked, fright coating her voice.

"We won't," Jacob said with authority and determination. "I won't let that happen. And I won't ever let _anything_ happen to Nessie."

My heart fluttered at his words, remembering that I was important to him.

"You know, Jacob, as much as I can't stand you sometimes, I'm glad that you're the one that will be with her. That you're the one that will protect her," Edward said with genuineness.

When Jacob spoke, I could hear the surprise from Edward's words in his voice. "Thanks, Edward."

"Oh, come on, Jacob. Don't be so surprised. I have a heart, you know. It just doesn't beat," he said jokingly.

Jacob chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But really, thank you," Jacob said with sincerity.

"No problem, Jake." Holy crap. That was the first time I'd ever heard my dad call Jake by a nickname that didn't have to do with a dog or profanity.

Jacob was shocked, as was I. "Y-you just called me Jake."

"Yeah, I think I did," my dad said with false surprise. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

Jake must not have known what to say after that, because he didn't say anything without being prompted to.

"Jake?" Bella asked quietly.

"Yeah, Bells?"

"You…you really love her, don't you?" she asked cautiously. Was she talking about me? And what did she mean?

"What? What do you mean by 'love her,'" Jake asked. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was uncomfortable.

Mom sighed. "I mean like care for her. For Nessie. You'd really do anything for her, wouldn't you?"

When Jake answered, his voice was quiet and filled with love. "Of course I would. My life would be absolutely nothing without her. I would and will do anything for her, do anything to make her happy. And I'll protect her until I can't anymore, though God forbid that point come. I'd do anything for her. I'll be anything she needs me to be. I love her."

My heart swelled with his deep words, making me smile in my half-consciousness.

"Wow, Jake. I never knew you could be so deep," my mom said in awe.

I felt him shrug again. "I guess that's what imprinting does," he said. His voice sounded a bit louder, so I guessed he was looking down at me. "Love you, Nessie," he breathed, kissing the top of my head lightly.

My smile grew and my heart fluttered more. I put my hand flat on his chest. _Love you, too._

He drew in a quick breath at the shock of my response. "You're awake," he said so quietly that I had to strain to hear him.

I nodded my head slowly.

He chuckled. "Go to sleep, Ness," he whispered.

I obeyed.

I woke up with a pair of freezing arms carrying me. I shivered without the warmth of my Jacob.

"I told you I should've carried her inside," I heard Jacob grumble.

"And I told you that wouldn't be very smart, what with your shoulder and all," the voice that was holding me said, my dad.

I reluctantly opened my eyes and looked for my Jacob. When I saw him, I almost flipped out of my father's arms to get away from the frigidness. Dad saw me and lowered me to the ground. I ran to Jake and hugged him, embracing his warmth.

"Hey," he said, hugging me back. "I'm, um, guessing you were cold?"

I nodded, my arms still wrapped around him.

* * *

He chuckled and picked me up with his good arm. "Come on," he said, walking in through the front door.

My dad sighed and started to follow us, but then he was bombarded by an overly anxious Alice.

"Edward! Edward, what happened? I started to see you, but then Jake got in the way, then I could see you again… Oh my God, did Jake get hurt?" She ran over to Jake and me. "Jacob, are you hurt? Are you alright? Did Carlisle help you? What happened?" She rambled off questions like it was a race.

"Alice! Please, stop talking. I'm fine…now. I was hurt, but—" Jacob started.

Just like that, Alice shot off on a question spree again. Jacob just sighed and started walking toward the stairs.

"Jacob Black, I am talking to you! Do _not_ ignore me!" Alice shouted. She started following us up the stairs.

"Yea, Alice has gone crazy. Again," I said, rolling my eyes.

He laughed a bit. "When isn't she?"

"Jacob Black! I heard that! You too, Nessie! How dare you? I'm your favorite aunt!"

From downstairs, I heard Rosalie yell, "Hey!"

"Alice. I'm fine. Please. Just let me take Nessie to her room, and I'll be right back down, okay?" Jacob said irritably.

Alice grumbled, "Fine," and went back down the stairs.

"What? Why do you get to stay up for hours upon hours?" I asked, exaggerating a little.

"Because I'm not seven years old," he joked, smirking.

"Well, you're, like, the second or third youngest person in this house," I said logically. "So, technically, you're a kid, too."

"And where'd you come up with that logic?" Jacob asked me. He shook his head, clearing it, and said, "Ness, I'm not a kid. Hell, I'm not even a teenager. I can stay up later than twelve a.m. if I want to."

A question popped into my mind that I'd never really asked. "Jacob, how old are you? Like, really? And _please_ don't tell me you're as old as my dad. That would just be weird," I said, disgust on my face.

He laughed at my expression. "I'm twenty-four. Technically."

Hm. That wasn't so bad. I mean, he wasn't 114 years old like my dad was. "So, you're the second youngest."

He smiled. "Yes, yes I am." I smiled back.

We were in my room now. He set me down on the floor. "Thanks. For carrying me up here. I didn't hurt you, did I?" I asked, starting to panic if I did.

"No. I'm fine. I'm almost healed, I think. Not the worst injuries I've ever had, but the second worst," he said. "Carlisle is making me wear the stupid brace thing until Tuesday, though," he grumbled.

"So, are you going to go to school tomorrow?" I asked him. I didn't know if he was going to because people would question why he had a brace on when he didn't have it on Friday. Then, on Tuesday when it was off, people would question how he had healed so quickly, and people would bring up a ton of questions…

"No, probably not," Jacob said, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Oh," I said. I knew that this was probably going to be the answer, but I was still a little disappointed. But it's not like I would be the only one there. I still had my family and Ryan and Kristen…

But no one would be the same as Jake.

"Just tomorrow or Tuesday too?" I questioned.

He shrugged. "That depends on Carlisle's opinion."

"Oh," I repeated. I stared at the crème carpet under my feet, imagining school without Jacob. It couldn't be that different, could it? I mean, there would be another family member in each of my classes…

But it wouldn't be the same.

Jacob placed him hand under my chin and lifted my head up. "Hey, it'll be alright. It's just two days. I don't have that much of an effect on you, do I?" he inquired.

I looked away from him and shrugged. "Maybe…" I muttered.

He chuckled. "You know, you could try to get your mom and dad to let you stay home too." He smiled mischievously.

I smiled at the thought, but then sighed. "As awesome as that sounds…I couldn't. Do you know what Ryan would think of that? If he knew we were skipping school together? He already thinks that you're trying to steal me away from him," I reasoned, saddened by this truth.

"Maybe I am," he said mysteriously, a sexy grin spreading across his face…

I shook my head, trying to clear it from thoughts about Jacob. I looked away from him, down to the floor again. "Really? Because you shouldn't."

He chuckled. "I'm just kidding. And why'd you look away from me?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Um... B-because…" I trailed.

"Because why?" he prompted, grinning again.

"Because I didn't want my dad to hear my thoughts," I admitted in a rush, blushing.

He just chuckled. "Night, Ness," he said, walking towards the door.

I sighed. "Night, Jake."

When he was out the door, I changed into my pajamas. To my surprise, the door leading to the balcony had been fixed, so I could sleep in my own room tonight.

I laid down in bed, staring at the ceiling for a long while. I wondered what my dreams would be like now, now that I knew we were being hunted.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you like it! Please review! I'll try to update as soon as I can! :)**


	22. My Little Girl

**A/N: Hey! I know this chapter is really, really short, but I think it's really sweet, too. I hope you like it! **

_**Chapter 22: My Little Girl**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

I was still staring at the ceiling, the white, smooth surface staring back down at me. I could hear Alice practically interviewing Jake to know what happened in Forks. Poor Jake.

I was almost afraid to go to sleep. I knew that I'd have nightmares about crazy crimson-eyed vampires trying to kill me.

I sat up and looked at the clock. One fifty eight a.m. If my dad actually drove like he was supposed to, I could still be in the car right now.

Dang it! Why did I have to go to sleep in the car? If I was actually tired right now I could have fallen asleep. I sighed.

I picked up a random book that I kept around in case I got too bored from the table beside my bed and started reading. I hadn't read this book before, but Emmett gave it to me for no reason one day. The book was called The Devouring. I didn't know what it was about, and I didn't read the back, so when the book started out with a guy getting his soul sucked out, I put it back. I was more scared than when I started reading. _Thanks a lot, Emmett._

I still wasn't very tired, and the reading hadn't worked. I decided just to close my eyes and see what happened.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_The red-eyed monsters advanced toward me. But they were strangers this time. I couldn't place any of them. I shivered as they brought their cold temperature with them. _

Where is Jacob?_ I thought as I grew colder and colder. My question was answered when I found a mound of fur lying across the field, one of the demons hovering above it. The wolf was lifeless, not moving the littlest bit. I looked around and saw the corpses of my family, lying there, being destroyed by the killers. My dad was still fighting one, and by the looks of it, losing. _

"_Daddy!" I screeched to him from across the field, but then I was lifted off of my feet and slammed into the ground, going unconscious. The last thing I saw was the lick of flames spreading across my father's figure._

I woke up, screaming and gasping, trying to regain the air that my screams were releasing. I sat up, untangling from the sheets I was tied up in.

Tears were streaming down my face, though I tried to stop them.

All of the sudden, my bedroom door flew open, letting in light from the hallway, which I shied away from. I saw a familiar figure and ran toward it, still sobbing.

"Nessie, Nessie are you alright?" he started to say, but I bombarded him with hugs.

"Daddy! Daddy, you're alive!" I said, still crying my eyes out.

"Of course I am, Sweetheart…" he trailed, picking me up in his arms. I buried my head deep in his neck, dampening his shirt with salt water from my tears. He rubbed my back. "Shhh," he repeated until I was calmer.

"Daddy, the n-nightmare… Y-you and M-Mommy and Jake and everyone else d-d—" I started, but he interrupted.

"Shhh, Sweetie. It was just a dream. Everyone is fine. You're okay, I'm okay, your mother is okay, Jacob is okay… All is well," he reassured. He walked over to my bed and set me down, sitting next to me.

"I know, but… Daddy, it-it was…h-horrible…" I said, reliving the images. Their amber eyes crazed and ready to kill, their teeth gleaming as they pulled apart my family…

My dad flinched. "Wow, Ness. You have really vivid dreams, don't you?"

I smiled a bit sheepishly and nodded. My tears had finally stopped falling, but the skin around my eyes was still red and puffy.

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Go back to sleep, Sweetie. It'll be alright." He stood up.

I laid back down and pulled the covers up around me. "But Daddy, I couldn't go to sleep before. And I'll probably have an even harder time going to sleep now. And even when I do fall asleep, I'll have another nightmare, and I-I can't take another nightmare…" I trailed, tears pooling in my eyes again, threatening to overflow.

"Shhh," he said again, hearing the oncoming tears in my voice. "I'll stay with you if you want," he offered. I nodded my head slowly and he sat back down.

I took one more quavering breath and closed my eyes.

But after a half hour I was still conscious. My eyes popped open. "Dad, I still can't go to sleep," I muttered.

"Will music help?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe."

He walked over to the stereo in the corner of my room and turned it to the radio. To a country station.

"Dad, Jake's not here," I said, exasperated.

He shrugged. "I know. But it's growing on me," he said, smiling.

I rolled my eyes and grinned.

He turned the music down to background level and came to sit next to me again. He leaned up against the headboard and put his hands behind his head.

"Go to sleep, Sweetie," he whispered to me.

After three full songs, I was still wide awake. I decided to talk instead. "I still can't go to sleep. So what do you want to talk about?" I questioned.

He chuckled and shrugged. "I don't know. How about…ponies."

"Ponies? Really, Dad? I may actually be seven, but I'm really not that into ponies," I said, grinning.

He smiled, too. "But you'll always be my little girl."

I smiled sweetly at him and hugged him again. "Love you, Daddy. And I know I will."

He hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. "And I mean _always_. Even when I'm, like, a great-great-great-great-grandpa or something."

I looked up at his face questioningly. "Well, you'll have to wait a century or two for that one, Daddy."

He chuckled. "God I hope so."

I laughed once and rested my head on his shoulder. Yes I was cold, but the temperature was also sort of calming. I started to drift slowly into unconsciousness, but I was still a little bit aware when the song came on the radio.

_Gotta hold on easy as I let you go.  
Gonna tell you how much I love you,  
Though you think you already know.  
I remember I thought you looked like an angel  
Wrapped in pink, so soft and warm.  
You've had me wrapped around your finger  
Since the day you were born._

_You beautiful baby from the outside in,_  
_Chase your dreams but always know the road_  
_That'll lead you home again._  
_Go on, take on this whole world,_  
_But to me you know you'll always be_  
_My little girl._

_When you were in trouble that crooked little smile_  
_Could melt my heart of stone._  
_Now look at you, I've turned around_  
_And you've almost grown._  
_Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I love you"_  
_In the moonlight at your door._  
_As I walk away, I hear you say,_  
_"Daddy, love you more."_

_You beautiful baby from the outside in,_  
_Chase your dreams but always know the road_  
_That'll lead you home again._  
_Go on, take on this whole world,_  
_But to me you know you'll always be_  
_My little girl._

_Someday, some boy will come_  
_And ask me for your hand._  
_But I won't say yes to him unless I know_  
_He's the half that makes you whole,_  
_He has a poet's soul, and the heart of a man's man._  
_I know he'll say that he's in love,_  
_But between you and me_  
_He won't be good enough._

_You beautiful baby from the outside in,_  
_Chase your dreams but always know the road_  
_That'll lead you home again._  
_Go on, take on this whole world,_  
_But to me you know you'll always be_  
_My little girl._

"You'll always be my little girl, Nessie. I love you," Daddy whispered, kissing the top of my head.

"Love you too, Daddy," I said quietly and sleepily, my eyes still closed shut. I smiled into the darkness as the last note rang through the air, drifting into a peaceful sleep while resting on my Daddy's shoulder.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!**

**Oh, and PLEASE read my friend's story, too! She's new to FanFiction, but she's an AMAZING writer! Her username is Deloren96, and her story is under my Favorite Stories list. Please read! :) (By the way, the story is about Twilight, too. It's about what happens after Bella becomes a vampire, but a twist ending...) ;) read to know what the twist ending is!**

**The song used in this chapter is "My Little Girl" by Tim Mcgraw. It's a really pretty song, and I thought it would be really sweet for Edward and Nessie. :)**


	23. Bad Thoughts

**A/N: Hey! Okay, so...here's chapter 23! :) (Just to let you know, it's probably the most inappropriate chapter so far...) :/ But ya, so anyway... lol! I'll try to post chapter 24 as soon as I can. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! REVIEW! ;) **_**Chapter 23: Bad Thoughts**_

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Renesmee Cullen's POV

The sun shone through the window, making me squint. I was cold. I looked to my left and remembered why. I saw my daddy smiling at me.

"Good morning, Sweetheart," he greeted, kissing my forehead.

"Morning, Daddy. What time is it?" I asked.

"Eleven forty," he said calmly.

"What? Why didn't you wake me up earlier? I'm late for school!" I exclaimed, shooting out of bed.

He chuckled at my reaction. "Yeah, so am I."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I questioned again.

"Because it was about three thirty in the morning before you went to sleep and I didn't want you passing out in the middle of the day," he said, smirking a little.

"Well, are we still going to school?"

He shrugged. "If you want to. You don't have to, but..."

"I'll be downstairs in twenty minutes," I said, entering the bathroom to take a shower.

"Alright. I'll be waiting," he said. I heard him stand up and run downstairs.

After I had taken a shower, I got dressed into an old pair of jeans and a shirt that Alice got me when we went shopping one of the many times she dragged me along. It was purple and for the most part plain, except for a small black heart in the bottom left corner. I didn't really do anything with my hair; I just let it air dry. I ran down the stairs when I was done.

"Hey. Ready to go?" Edward asked me from the living room.

"Um...Dad, I still have to eat," I said, walking into the kitchen.

"Oh yeah," he said.

After I ate a bagel for breakfast, or I guess it was brunch now, I went back into the living room where Edward sat.

"Now I'm ready to go," I said.

"Alright." He picked up both of our book bags and walked toward the garage.

"Bye Grandma, bye Jake," I yelled, knowing they could both hear me. My grandma was always home during the day, since she didn't work. And Jacob was staying home today, too.

"Bye," they both called simultaneously.

I chuckled and followed Edward out the garage door and to Jacob's car.

"Um...Dad...why are we taking Jake's car?"

"Because Alice and Jasper took my car," he explained, climbing in the driver's seat.

"Oh." I sat down in the passenger seat and as soon as I had my seat belt on, Edward bolted out of the garage, down the driveway, and onto the highway leading to the school.

Five minutes later we were there. It was the middle of fourth period, so we would probably make quite an entrance.

We both got out of the car and headed to the main office to get late passes. Once we got them, we headed off to our classes.

When I slowly opened the door to my Social Studies class, all heads turned toward me. I walked to the teacher's desk and handed Mrs. Watson my late pass and headed to my seat next to Alice. Once I sat down, everyone turned back to the front of the class like robots.

When the bell that announced the end of fourth period rang, I quickly gathered up my stuff and made my way to lunch with Alice. When I walked to lunch, I was always used to having someone cold on one side—Alice—and someone hot on the other—Jacob. It felt weird just being cold today.

When I got to my family's lunch table I saw that everyone except Alice had beat me there, as usual. A minute or so after I sat down, Ryan sat in his regular seat next to me.

"Hey," he greeted, kissing my cheek.

"Hi," I said back, smiling.

"Where were you in first period?" he asked with concern.

"Oh. I slept in late. I got home pretty late last night, so..." I shrugged. "I just got here during fourth period."

"Oh. So...where's Jacob?" he said in a hard voice. I guess he wasn't over the fact that I kissed Jake.

"He's sick. He has a cold," Bella provided.

"Oh. That's too bad," Ryan said with false sympathy.

I sighed. "Yeah."

"So, did you have a good weekend?" Ryan asked me, a smile on his face.

I laughed once without humor. "Nope. Just the opposite, actually. Or, on Sunday, anyway…" I said bitterly. I stopped talking then, already having said too much

"Am I really that bad of a kisser?" Ryan asked, a smile no longer on his face.

I shook my head, chuckling. "No, it's not about you."

"Then what is it?" he asked with concern.

"Um...nothing."

"Okay, if you're sure," he said, letting the subject drop.

The lunch advisor called our row up to get lunch. I followed Ryan up to the food line. Today's lunch was nachos, as it always seems to be.

On our way back to the table, Ryan said, "Can I kiss you now before I have lunch breath?" He grinned.

I smiled and looked to the ground. "Sure."

We stopped right by our table and his lips met mine for a short and sweet kiss. It was nothing life changing for me, just another kiss. But maybe it's a good thing Jake wasn't here; he would go crazy. And that got me thinking about if the kiss were with Jake… How warm and soft his lips were, how much electricity there was when our lips met, the look of love, not lust in his eyes…

_No! Bad Nessie! _I scolded myself. _You should _not_ be thinking about kissing Jake when you're kissing Ryan!_

I had to be the one that removed my lips from Ryan's. His heart was beating fast, and his eyes were full of love _and_ lust, but lust easily dominated. I held back a sigh and sat down, setting my tray on the table.

"What?" Ryan asked, concerned as he sat in the seat next to me. Apparently there was something that gave away my mood on my face.

"N-nothing," I lied pathetically.

"Ness. Tell me," he said. Apparently he wasn't going to drop the subject this time.

"Really, it's nothing. It's not important," I said, trying to avoid the conversation.

"I don't believe that," he said, looking at me disapprovingly.

I sighed and changed the subject. "Do you want to come over after school?"

"Oh, um…sure."

"Okay. Um…I'll ride home with you, then," I said, glad he let it go.

"Alright," he approved.

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When the end of the day bell rang, I gathered up my stuff and walked over to Ryan's desk. We walked to our lockers and I met him by his.

"Ready to go?" he asked, slinging his book bag over his shoulder.

"Yup," I said, following him down the hall and out the front door of the school.

We got to the parking lot and walked to his convertible. He kissed me again once we were in the car. I think he was now addicted.

About ten minutes later, we pulled up my long driveway. I hopped out of the car as soon as it was parked. Ryan soon joined me. We walked through the front door, my family already there. Or at least their cars were, but they weren't present. They were probably hunting. The only person who was there was Jacob. He was sitting on the couch in the front room, his shoulder still in the brace. He looked extremely bored.

"Hey!" he exclaimed when he saw me, but then he saw Ryan, and his expression faltered. Ryan was still extremely ticked at Jake about him kissing me, so he glared at him. Jake glared back, only less hostile.

"Hey, Jake," I said, setting my book bag on the floor.

"I thought you had a cold," Ryan accused.

I sighed, deciding to interrupt before their tension became anything anyone would regret. "He doesn't. He…hurt his shoulder," I said, deciding to say 'hurt' not 'broke' for obvious reasons.

"Then why'd Bella say he had a cold?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't know, Ryan." I was getting a little upset by his inquisitive attitude.

"Okay." He leaned in to kiss me, probably only because Jacob was watching. I kissed him for about half a second, and then pulled away. Jacob was already internally seething, I could tell.

"Come on, let's watch TV," I said, sitting on the middle of the couch next to Jake. Ryan sat next to me on the other side. He glared in Jake's direction the whole time. After about fifteen minutes of this, I had had enough. I sighed in exasperation. "Ryan, enough," I said sternly, putting my hand on Ryan's cheek and twisting it gently to the TV screen.

"But Ness, he kissed you. I'm your boyfriend. That's a part of what boyfriends are supposed to do; glare at guys who kiss or do anything else with their girlfriend," Ryan whispered venomously, but Jake could still hear him.

"Really? Is pissing off your girlfriend part of the boyfriend description, too?" I asked in a quiet sarcastic voice, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Ness…" he sighed. "I'm sorry."

I took a deep breath. "That's okay," I said.

All this time Jake just sat there quietly, enduring everything Ryan said about him. Wow, he really is amazing.

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About an hour later, my family arrived through the back door silently.

Alice came up between me and Jake. "Get packed for France. We're leaving next week," she instructed, then she skipped off toward Jasper.

Ryan looked at me sharply. "You're going to France?"

"Um…yeah… Alice and Jasper's birthday present was four plane tickets to France. But I didn't know we were leaving next week," I said the last part through my teeth, looking sternly at Alice, then to my father who had just sat down on the chair to my right. My mom sat on his lap. _Why didn't you warn me? Or warn Alice not to say it while Ryan is here?_

He shrugged. _She didn't tell me, _he thought. At that moment my mom kissed him passionately, making my dad's attention otherwise involved. I looked the other way quickly, a disgusted look on my face. Jake laughed at my reaction.

"Nice, Ness," he muttered.

Ryan started talking again. "So who are you going with?"

"Alice and Jasper," I said softly.

"But you said there were four tickets," he scrutinized.

"Oh, did I? Silly me, I meant three…" I giggled nervously. I was a really bad liar.

He still didn't look convinced, but he let it go. In the seat to the right of Ryan, my parents were still making-out, causing me to turn my attention the other way, towards Jake. I'm sorry, but when your parents are young forever and are making-out, it's not a pretty sight to see when you're their daughter.

"Get a room," I mumbled. Jake laughed. I heard my dad chuckle a little too, finally pulling away from Bella. "Thank God."

"What?" Ryan asked, totally oblivious.

I laughed a little. "Nothing. Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Alright."

Ryan's text ringtone rang from his phone in his pocket. He took it out and read it. "Oh, crap. Um…sorry, Nessie, but I have to go. I forgot I had to watch my little sister today…" he trailed, standing up.

"Oh, that's fine. Well, bye, I'll see you tomorrow," I said, standing up and hugging him. After a second he pulled away, still keeping his arms around me, and kissed me. This kiss was more passionate than any other, and that wasn't good; Jacob was still sitting near me. I tried to pull away, but I didn't want to hurt Ryan's feelings. After about eight seconds of kissing, he pulled away, his breathing uneven. Even mine was a little uneven. I stared at him in shock.

"Um…bye," he said hurriedly as he let go off me and rushed out the front door, grabbing his book bag on the way out.

I was still semi-frozen, standing by the couch. It wasn't until I heard Ryan's car engine drift away that I moved the tiniest bit. Emmett was the first to speak after things like this, naturally.

"Woo! Way to go, Ness! Now you finally have a chance to get some!"

I glared at him while Jacob and Edward growled viciously. Emmett backed away, looking a little scared.

"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him," Jacob snarled through his teeth.

"I'll help," my dad bellowed.

"Dad—"

"Don't try to defend him, Renesmee. You didn't hear his repulsive thoughts," my dad interrupted.

"I don't even need to read minds to know that all he wanted was Renesmee to ha—" Jake started, but I cut in.

"Stop. I know what you're going to say, Jacob, and I don't want the truth of it said out loud. I'm not saying that what he did or thought was right or appropriate, but he _is_ my boyfriend. He has the right to kiss me."

"So you admit it. All Ryan really wanted was s—" Emmett started.

"Shut up, Emmett!" Edward shouted.

I sighed. "I'm going to go do my homework, okay?" I didn't wait for an answer before I grabbed my backpack and ran full speed up the stairs, away from the embarrassment.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed this chapter, (or even if you didn't) PLEASE REVIEW! (But only nice comments please) :)**

**Oh, and one review said that they wanted Bella and Edward romance, so there's a little bit of that. I hope now they are satisfied. lol! :)**


	24. Keys

**A/N: Hey! Sorry I haven't posted for a couple days. I was at my grandparent's house, and they live out in the country (A.K.A. no wifi) :) So, I didn't post. But I did type! (on my iPod). I typed 2 chapters, but I'm going to post chapter 25 tomorrow... sorry! But I hope you don't find this chapter weird or awkward or anything...I was about to name it something else, but I didn't. I changed it last minute. :) Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! ENJOY! :)**_**

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_**Chapter 24**__**: Keys**_

**_Renesmee Cullen's POV_**

When I got to my room, I slammed my door shut. I threw my book bag on my bed. I sat down on my bed and started my homework. I worked slower than usual, just to stay locked up in my room longer.

After an hour, I heard a knock at my door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Your mother," Bella said, a grin in her voice.

I sighed. "Come in."

She turned the doorknob and slowly entered.

"So...what's up?" I asked curiously as she came and sat next to me.

"Um...nothing, really. I...I just wanted to talk to you," she said, almost nervously.

"About?" I prompted.

"Um...I wanted to talk to you about...Ryan. A-and maybe Jacob, too..." she trailed, not looking me in the eye.

I sighed exasperatedly. "What about them?"

"Well, we both know that Ryan's thoughts weren't exactly...innocent when he was kissing you, and I just wanted to talk to you about—"

"Mom! No! _Please_tell me you aren't trying to have 'the talk' with me," I pled.

"Well, I'm your mother. It's my job," she defended.

"Mom, I already know about that stuff. Please, just don't say anything else, _please_," I begged.

"But Nessie, you—"

"Mom, I don't want to hear anymore! Please, just...stop talking about that," I interrupted.

"But Ryan and—" she started, but I cut in again, a bit surprised.

"_And_?"

She looked down at the bed covers, a little embarrassed. "Yes, and."

"But who—" I stopped talking. I think I even stopped breathing. After about a minute, I let out the air I was holding and spoke. She was still looking away from me. "You said you wanted to talk about Ryan and...J-Jacob..."

She sighed and nodded. "Yes. Ryan and Jacob. And any other boyfriends you may have…" She looked uncomfortable, but she didn't even know uncomfortable until she was me at that moment.

"B-but, I... Me and Jake are just..." I couldn't form a complete sentence. How could that even be possible? I don't think of Jake like..._that_.

"You're right, Ness. Nevermind," she said quickly, getting up off the bed and running to the door. I wanted to stop her from leaving, but I was still frozen.

I heard my mom, dad, and Jacob arguing downstairs.

"Bella! Why did you... What were you thinking?" Edward said, exasperated. He was never mad at my mom. Or at least I'd never seen him mad at my mom.

"Seriously, Bella! Why would you even _mention_ me in that type of conversation?" Jake, however, had been mad at my mom before.

"I'm sorry, Jacob. I'm sorry, Edward. I-I wasn't thinking... And we all know that you'll have to be brought up in a conversation like that someday, Jacob," my mom reasoned. What she said at the end just made me more confused and shocked.

"Bella! You know she can hear us right now! I can read her mind. It's, well, very surprised. And confused," Edward told her.

"Well, gee, thanks, Bella. You probably just made her want to avoid me because she thinks I'm a pedophile or something," Jacob said angrily.

"What's wrong with that?" my father asked.

Jacob groaned. "Do you want Nessie to end up with some loser human?" he whisper-yelled. I had to strain to hear him.

Bella sighed. "I'm sorry, Jake. It's just that...I thought she should know."

"Should I go talk to her?" Jacob questioned Edward nervously.

"Um..." He sighed. "I don't know. Sure. But please don't scare her anymore," he asked desperately.

Jacob took a deep breath and started to climb the stairs. Oh boy, this should be an interesting conversation.

When Jacob reached the door to my room, he slowly opened the door, appearing.

He exhaled. "Hi."

I waved a little bit at him, not looking anywhere near his eyes. Or him in general, for that matter.

"Look, Ness..."

"Why are you even up here? I already heard what she said. What she talked about..." I interrupted.

"I know. But...what she said wasn't true," he tried to convince.

I started shaking my head before he was even finished talking. "I know it is. You know it is." I sighed. "Can we just forget anything about this was even mentioned? Please?"

Jacob swallowed and nodded. "Sure."

"Thanks. And...I-I'll break up with Ryan, if you want me to. I mean, you broke up with Veronica for me, so..." I said.

He chuckled once. "Are you kidding? I broke up with Veronica for _me_." He smiled, then was serious. "Nessie, you don't have to break up with your boyfriend for me. Veronica was different. I hated her. You...you actually like Ryan. Maybe even...l-love him. But I'm not going to make you break up with your boyfriend. That's your decision. Or his, I guess. But not mine."

"I don't know. I might break up with him soon, though. He pissed me off pretty bad today..." I trailed.

Jacob chuckled. "Yeah. No offense, but I was about to break his neck. And he seriously thought I couldn't hear him? Please."

I smiled. "Oh. And I have your homework," I remembered, changing the subject to something less uncomfortable. I reached for my book bag, getting out a folder that the lady at the Student Services office gave me with Jacob's missed work, along with mine from the beginning of the day.

"Oh, yea," he said with no enthusiasm at all.

I laughed a little and handed him his homework papers.

"I don't have my books. Oh no. I'll have to do my homework some other time..." Jake trailed, hoping to get out of doing work.

"Ha-ha. Nice try. I don't think so. If I have to suffer through it, so do you. And you can use my books," I said.

He groaned. "Fine." He sat down on the floor, spreading his homework out. I got off my bed and sat next to him. "Can I borrow a pencil or something?" he asked.

"Here," I said, handing him one.

We both started working in silence. I was done before him, since I had started working an hour earlier.

"That's not fair," he said when he saw me put my papers into various folders then in my book bag.

"It's also not fair that you'll let me suffer at school pretty much alone tomorrow," I said, joking.

"Hey, you have your vamps and your boyfriend, you'll be good," he said, also teasing.

"And you're here with Esme all day watching TV while she cooks you anything you please. Your life is so hard," I said, lightly smacking his arm.

"Hey, she offers the food. I just accept it," he said, grinning. He went back to working on his homework.

I stood up off the floor and laid down on my bed, grabbing the book I was reading last night. It may be sort of scary, but it was pretty good.

About an hour later, Jake was done with his school work, and I was done with the book. What can I say, I'm a fast reader.

"Yes! Done!" he said, throwing the current paper he had just finished away from him and slamming the book shut.

I chuckled a little. "I'm scared to death," I said, throwing my book across the room.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Why is that?"

"Because that book is basically about soul-sucking, body-possessing demons." I shuddered as he smiled and shook his head.

"Then why did you read it?" he asked.

"Because I was bored!" I defended.

He chuckled.

"Nessie! Jacob! Time for dinner!" Grandma Esme called from the kitchen.

"Race you down," I challenged.

"Okay," he said, and took off.

"Hey!" I shot after him, down the stairs. I was right behind him all the way down, but he beat me to the dining room. He was laughing. "That's not fair! You had a head start!" I accused, sitting down at the table.

"So! You can read my mind. And you could've started as soon as you said you wanted to race," he reasoned, sitting next to me.

Esme was chuckling as she brought out plate of hamburgers, home-made macaroni and cheese, and fruit. She also set out condiments for the hamburgers.

"Thanks, Grandma," I said, setting a hamburger on my plate and putting cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise, and onions on it.

"Yeah, thanks, Esme," Jake said, serving himself as well.

"You're welcome," she said as she left the room.

After dinner—which was delicious, I might add—Jake and I joined everyone else in the front room. Edward was playing the piano, Bella was reading, Alice and Jasper were playing chess, Emmett was playing the Wii, Rosalie was leafing through a magazine, Esme was arranging a vase of flowers, and Carlisle was on the computer. I walked over to where my dad was as Jacob decided to play Emmett at the boxing game he was playing. That would be interesting; those two could get way too competitive. I sat on the piano bench next to Edward.

"Hey, Sweetie," he greeted me as I sat. He was currently playing my mom's favorite song; her song.

"Hi, Daddy. Can I play? You know, when you're done?" I asked. He had taught me to play the piano when I was littler, but I hadn't played for a pretty long time. I used to play it every day, so much that they had to quite literally pry me away from it when I had to do something else. It used to be as natural as breathing. But I hadn't played the piano for a few years. I really hoped I remembered _something_ to play.

"Of course, Sweetheart." He stood and ran to the dining room, bringing back a chair that he sat next to the piano to sit in.

"You didn't have to stop playing," I told him, sliding to the middle of the bench.

He shrugged. "I knew you wanted to play."

I smiled. "Thanks, Daddy." I inhaled and then exhaled slowly, gently setting my fingers on the creamy white keys. I pressed down on one of the keys, a 'b', and the rich tone rang through the air. But that was just one note. I smiled to myself. I started hitting more random keys, their sounds filling the house. I stopped playing randomly then. I ran my fingers back up the piano, to an 'e' key. I started playing the "Für Elise". I played it over and over; I loved hearing it just as much as playing it. Then I started playing a different song. It was still by Beethoven, though. I started playing the "Moonlight Sonata". That was probably my favorite song on the piano. After I was done with that song, I started playing my grandma's favorite. My dad taught me this song, as well as my mother's. Esme smiled at me when she realized what I was playing. I smiled happily back. After her song was done, I played Bella's song. Her lullaby, as Edward once called it. As I was playing it, she came over to me and kissed the top of my head. She then went over to my dad and sat on his lap. After my mom's song was finished, I performed random songs. I played "Amazing Grace", "Mary had a Little Lamb", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Ode to Joy", "Happy Birthday", and a few others. Then I just started hitting random keys again. It started playing near Middle C, and some of the notes I played I thought sounded pretty good together. _Maybe this could he Jacob's song,_ I thought to myself. I made a mental note of the notes I was playing. I played it over and over again. Jacob had stopped facing Emmett in their video game and came over to sit beside me on the bench. I had been playing for about an hour and a half now. Jacob never said anything, he just listened to me play his song over and over again. I wonder if he knew it was his song. How could he know? Maybe because he just knew me that well.

"Nessie, it's time for you to go to bed," Bella said after another hour or so.

I sighed, stopping in the middle of the song. Jacob's song. I had still been adding to it, making it more beautiful and mystifying, like Jacob himself. Not to mention more elaborate and detailed, so not just anyone could play it.

I slid off the piano bench. "Night, Mom, night Dad," I said, giving them each a hug.

"That last song was beautiful, Nessie," my mother whispered in my ear as she was embracing me.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Yeah, it was, Nessie. Whose was it?" my dad asked.

I sighed. "I don't know," I said, looking directly in my father's eyes, pleading for his secrecy.

"Okay. Tell me when you know," Edward said, tone disapproving. _Why don't you want to tell him?_ he thought to me.

_I just…don't want to tell him about it yet,_ I projected.

_Why...nevermind. Alright._

I honestly didn't know why I didn't want Jacob to know that that song was for him. Maybe because it seemed too serious to write a song for someone when you were supposed to be just friends. Or maybe I was just being silly.

I walked to the stairs and ran up to my room at just over a human running pace. I heard Jacob behind me.

"Night, Nessie," he said as he entered his room.

"Night, Jake."

When I was in my room, I changed into a pair of my pajamas and crawled into bed. I just wanted to go to sleep and forget the awkwardness of today.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please review! And if you didn't like it, I'll be sad, but please review! lol! But please, only nice comments and/or constructive criticism. Thanks for reading! I'll post tomorrow! :) **

**Oh, and just to let you know, I probably won't post all next week because I won't be in wifi zone... :| But I'll still type! I promise! Trust me, I'll be very, very, very bored next week, so I'll probably do nothing but type. So I'll probably have a few chapters ready in two weeks! :) **

**PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you. :)**


	25. Soaked

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter 25! I hope you like it and don't think it's far-fetched or awkward or anything. I really liked writing this chapter! And I'm pretty sure that most of you will like the next chapter. :) That is, if it ends up being the same idea that I plan to write. :) Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review! (I love reviews, if you couldn't tell...C:) **_**

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_**Chapter 25: Soaked**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

The next morning, after I woke up and got ready for school—Alice had me dressed in a plain white shirt and black pants—I heard Carlisle say that Jacob could go to school today, without the brace. I was extremely excited.

I was downstairs eating breakfast with Jake, and we were about to leave for school. I heard the garage door open and close again.

"Dad?" I called. No answer. "Did they seriously just leave? They're so impatient."

"Apparently. Don't worry. We can take my car," he said, taking his plate to the sink and grabbing his keys from the counter, along with his book bag. "Ready?"

I finished off my water and nodded, picking up my book bag and following Jake into the garage. We both got into his car and rode to school.

We got there in about five minutes. We went to our lockers and got our books and notebooks and went to English. We were reading Romeo and Juliet this year, since we were all sophomores. We had just started the book though. My mom knew the book by heart; she'd read it tons of times.

I saw Ryan as he sat in the desk next to me. Jacob was in the desk on the other side of me. Ryan looked really nervous.

"Hi," he said to me quickly.

"Hey."

"I-I'm sorry about yesterday…" he apologized.

"Um...that's okay, I guess," I allowed reluctantly.

Right then the bell rang and class started. We read a few pages of Romeo and Juliet today, then we had to write a short re-cap.

When the bell rang, announcing second period, I said goodbye to Ryan and walked to gym with Jacob. He was giving death glares to Ryan pretty much the whole class.

Jake and I separated when we reached the locker rooms. I went in and went to get my gym clothes from my locker to change. Veronica stared hatefully at me all the while. There were lines under her eyes, and her face was also a little splotchy, which was proof she'd been crying and losing sleep. A lot.

We went to the main gym after we all were changed, and the guys were already in the gym. I saw Jake and walked over to him. My mom and dad walked over by us then.

"So, do you enjoy being back at school?" I asked Jake, already knowing his answer.

"You're kidding me, right Ness?" he said with no humor whatsoever.

I chuckled a little. I looked over to my left and saw Veronica staring at Jacob, heartbreak in her eyes. And...was that a tear running down her cheek? However, when she caught me looking, she hastily wiped it away and glared. I looked back to Jake.

"She's crying over you," I mumbled to him.

"Oh well. She was so mean to you; she deserves it," he said in a hard voice.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Ness, what's the matter? Are you _actually_ feeling _sorry_ for her? After the way she treated you?" he asked me, confused.

I sighed. "No. It's just...she looks so miserable," I said quietly.

Gym started then, and we had to do warm-ups and run. When everyone was done running, everyone was out of breath except my family, me, and Jake. In fact, we had to struggle to keep a human pace while running around the gym countless times.

We played volleyball in gym today, and me and Jake were on the same team, against my father and Veronica, along with others. There were six players per team. My mom was on another team with people I hardly knew.

During the entire game, Veronica continually spiked the ball at my head. But with my half-vampire reflexes, I was able to hit it before it hit me. Not that it would've hurt me if I didn't dodge it. She also stared at Jacob the whole game. Jake and I won, of course, but Edward's team only lost by a little.

"Alright! Go get changed," Mr. Tural called, walking back into his office.

I walked back into the locker room with my mom and went to my locker to get changed back into my regular clothes. I sort of had to go to the bathroom, so I walked to the stalls that were in the locker room. My locker was pretty much right next to it, and my mom's was next to mine. The bathrooms were right next to the showers, but they were rarely used. When I got to the bathrooms, I saw Veronica standing there against the wall, crying. She was against the wall between the showers and the bathrooms. When she saw me, she wiped at her eyes and turned them into slits.

"So. Are you and…J-Jacob dating yet?" she asked in a pained voice, though she tried desperately to make it sound mean.

"No."

"Wow. That's hard to believe. Whenever you were in the same room as him, his eyes would never leave you. It's like he was freaking connected to you. And…he never loved me, did he?" she asked sourly.

"How should I know?" I actually did know the answer to her question, but I didn't want to give her another reason to hate me. Or keep crying. It got sort of annoying.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because you're best friends slash secret lovers," she snarled.

"No we're—" I was cut off as freezing cold water clashed with my skin, drenching my shirt and head. I opened my eyes, which I had closed when the water hit me, and saw that Veronica had a shower hose in her hand, pointed at me. She also had a smug smile painted across her face. I could have run out of the way, but not without questions from any witnesses. The consequence of that: I got all wet. Oh, joy. Then she pointed the hose to my locker, probably soaking my gym clothes, too. Along with Bella's, since Veronica's aim is bad. Great.

Bella appeared quickly, though she ran at a human speed. "Nessie!" she exclaimed when she saw me. She of course was perfectly dry.

By now, Veronica had shut off the water. I heard footsteps, and the assistant gym teacher, a girl, was there. "Veronica Kaplan you are not allowed to use the showers without permission!" she scolded, face red in anger. "Come with me," she said, grabbing Veronica's arm and leading her away.

When Veronica passed me, she whispered, "Karma sucks, doesn't it? That should teach you not to steal my boyfriend."

"He's not your boyfriend anymore. He never really was," I growled quietly. She heard me and glared even more.

The bell rang then. "Bella, what..." I trailed, looking down at my now see-through shirt.

"Um...I don't know. We'll see what we can do..." she said. "Come on." She walked to the locker room door and entered the hallway, standing in front of me. We ran into Edward and Jacob in the hallway, where luckily few people lingered. Edward had a mad and annoyed look on his face, which told me he knew what happened. But Jacob looked shocked when he saw me, which made me guess he had no idea what happened.

"Um..." Jacob swallowed uncomfortably. "What...what happened, exactly, Ness?"

"Gee, I don't know. Ask your ex," I said sourly. I wasn't mad at him; there was no reason to be.

"Oh God. What exactly did she do?"

"She sprayed me with a shower hose. Now, obviously, I'm all wet and my shirt is see-through," I said irritably.

He chuckled a little, almost nervous. "Yeah, I noticed."

My father's jaw tensed.

"Edward, what am I going to do about my shirt? Because I know you don't want it to stay like this all day," I asked.

"I don't know," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

"What about your gym shirt?" Jake suggested.

"She soaked that too," I said, angered.

"Well...you can wear my shirt...if you want to, you know," he told me.

"Thanks, but I don't think shirtless fits in with the dress code," I said, grinning.

"I have a shirt on under this," he said, pointing to his shirt.

I inhaled. "Okay. If you're sure..." Before I could finish saying anything, he was pulling his shirt over his head, revealing a fitted, tight white T-shirt. And wow, did it look good on him...

My father coughed nonchalantly. I stopped thinking.

"Here," he said, handing me his dark blue polo shirt.

"Thanks, Jake," I said, smiling. "Um...I'll be right back." I went into the bathroom across the hall and into a stall. I never did get to go to the bathroom, so I went. When I was done, after washing my hands, I slipped off the wet white shirt that clung to me, making me feel clammy, and pulled on Jacob's shirt. It smelled so good, just like Jacob. It was woodsy and salty, from the ocean. It smelled wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. It was pretty big on me, of course, but it didn't look too bad.

I walked out of the bathroom, and only Jake was there. I looked questioningly at him.

"There next class was on the other side of school. They didn't want to be late. They had to go, you know, to not run," he explained.

"Oh. How much time until the bell?" I asked as we started to walk down the hall toward our next class: science.

"Um...about a minute, I think," he said as we continued walking.

"Crap," I mumbled, walking a little faster. We were downstairs and science was on the second floor, and we still had to stop by our lockers. "You could've left without me. That way you wouldn't have been late," I said.

"I know, but I didn't want to just leave you here."

"I think I know my way around by now, Jake," I told him, smiling.

"I know. I just felt like being nice. Excuse me," he said jokingly. I laughed a little. "Oh, and by the way, you were really good playing the piano last night," he praised.

"Thanks. I hadn't played in years. I was surprised I remembered that much," I said, eyes wide.

He chuckled a bit. "Yeah, no offense, but me too. You must have a good memory." He smiled, as did I. "Oh, and I like that last song you kept playing. Did you compose that?" he asked, honestly interested.

My heart and soul reacted to his words. He liked his song, and he didn't even know it was his song. Or at least that I knew anyway. My smile grew. "Yeah, I did. I'm glad you like it."

We then made it to our lockers and quickly got our materials we needed for science, then practically ran to class. We made it to our seats right as the bell rang. Talk about luck.

I could hardly focus on the video we watched in science. I was too intoxicated with the scent of Jacob all around me, now even on me. The only two things that distracted me—briefly—was Jacob's glorious, muscular body under his fitted white T-shirt, and the stupid girls that kept on staring at him, almost drooling. He, of course, was oblivious to the fact that he was the center of attention for all girls.

At the end of class, the bell rang and the lights in the classroom flashed on, coming as a somewhat shock to my overly sensitive eyes. I could almost feel my pupils contract.

Jake and I gathered up our stuff and walked back to our lockers to get our Social Studies supplies. Then, we went to the first floor for class.

Once again, the same situation as science occurred. I was overwhelmed by Jacob's scent, girls stared, Jake was completely unaware. Or maybe he wasn't. Maybe he just didn't like the attention. Only this time was a bit worse, for two reasons. First reason was because it was a worksheet we had to do and I had to focus more. The second one was that all the lights were on, so people saw me. They saw me in Jake's shirt. I heard them talk and whisper. Naturally, everyone knew about Veronica spraying me. Nothing ever stayed a secret around here. Only, according to some of the gossipers, what Veronica did was accidental. That really pissed me off. I don't know who was telling everybody that piece of untrue crap, probably Veronica herself, but it made me really mad. And gave me even more of a reason to hate her, and I didn't know you could hate anyone more than I ready hated Veronica.

When it was time to go to lunch, Jake, Alice and I got our stuff and went straight to the cafeteria, not bothering to stop by our lockers, as we rarely did.

"Nessie, why are you wearing Jacob's shirt?" Alice demanded in frustration.

"Because Veronica soaked me in the locker room. I surprised you, of all people, wouldn't have heard that yet," I said, a little surprised she hadn't heard the story yet.

"Well, yes, I knew about it, but why are you wearing _his_ shirt? Couldn't you have worn your gym shirt? That would've at least fit," she complained.

"Because she got that wet, too. And Bella's locker, too, before you ask. So, gym shirts were out of the question in that scenario."

I think Alice pouted all the way to lunch.

We were some of the first ones at our table, which surprised me. Only Jasper was there so far. I wondered why they weren't here.

Alice saw my concern and assured me, "The teachers held their classes back for some student's behavioral issues."

"Oh," I said.

A minute later, the rest of my family showed up at the lunch table. About twenty seconds after that, Ryan sat down, still on edge. Jake and my dad glared at him. Emmett was smiling humorously the whole time.

"Hey Renesmee," I heard a voice behind me call. My jaw tensed. I knew that voice. Regardless, I turned around anyway. I saw Jake look from the corner of his eye.

"What, Veronica?" I said in a hard voice. Her table was right behind ours, which I wasn't crazy about. I knew Jake wasn't, either.

"Nice shirt. Isn't that for guys? Maybe you should learn to shop," Veronica chided. Her friends had humored smiles on their faces. Some were giggling. Did I mention that they all hated me, too?

"No thanks. And it's not mine. _Jacob_ let me borrow it," I said, smiling with false sweetness. "Thanks again, Jake," I said too loudly, hugging him.

"No problem, Ness," he said, embracing me back, a little laughter in his voice.

If anything, that shut Veronica up. She turned back to her table, rubbing her eyes.

I let go of Jacob and turned back to the table, sighing in frustration at Veronica. Ryan was looking down at the table, jaw trembling in a little anger and jealousy.

I turned to him. "Ryan, the hug was necessary. Do you really want her to talk to me like that?"

"Well, no. But you're wearing _his_ shirt. His, not mine. I have two shirts on, too," he said.

"Well, were you there? No. Jake was, and I really didn't want to walk around the rest of the day with a transparent shirt," I told him.

His breathing quickened, and he looked like he was off in his own little world. I heard my dad let out a low hiss. I knew it had to do with Ryan's thoughts. Hmmm. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned me in a transparent shirt. Whoops.

"Um...Ryan..." I said, waving my hand in front of his face.

His cheeks got a little red as he looked at me. "What? Oh, sorry..."

"Yeah, me too," I mumbled so low that only Jake could hear me. Only he was so ticked at imagining what Ryan was probably thinking that he didn't even smile.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Today I went home with Jacob; Ryan had to watch his little sister again.

Today's after school time was a lot like yesterday, only with much less drama. And a different dinner. Me and Jake still did our homework together, still ate dinner together, and I still played the piano until I was told to go to bed. Jake sat next to me the whole time while I was playing, and I caught him smiling during his song a lot.

When it was time for bed, according to my parents, not me, I reluctantly slid off the shiny black piano bench, trailing my fingers along the glistening keys one last time, and headed up the stairs with Jake.

I got ready for bed after saying goodnight to everyone and got into bed.

I smiled in thinking the knowledge that this time next week, I would be in France with Jacob.

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**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! And please review! It doesn't matter if you liked it or not-PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :) (Only nice comments or constructive criticism, please) C: **

**I've also been getting a lot of reviews lately~THANK YOU SO MUCH IF YOU'VE REVIEWED MY STORY! Also, thank you if you put my story on your Favorite Story list, Story Alert, Author Alert...anything! Thank you, thank you, thank you!**

**And like I said in the last chapter, I probably won't post for the next week or so, since I won't have wifi. :( But I'll still write and when I do have wifi again, I'll hopefully have a few chapters to post! :) **

**Once again...THANK YOU! C=**

**~ myhorsiegirl22 ~**


	26. The Ugly Truth

**A/N: Here's chapter 26. :) And I wrote a couple chapters while away from my computer. And I technically didn't go on vacation, I was saved by my friend who let me stay with her for a week! It was awesome. I think I laughed enough for everyone in the world... heh heh. :) But while I was there I wrote, as did my friend. We're both writing stories. They're also both about Twilight. I think all of our conversations were about Twilight lol. :D Oh, and does anybody watch the show "Bones"? Well, it is AWESOME! I'm addicted now lol. :) **

**Okay, back on topic. ;) I think a lot of you will like this chapter for a reason I won't say right now. ;) And I also think some people will be surprised. But please don't judge. It can always happen...  
Hopefully I'm not confusing everyone. And sorry if I do. :) Anyway, here's chapter 26. I hope you like it!**

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_**Chapter 26: The Ugly Truth**_

Renesmee Cullen's POV

The rest of the school week went by rather fast. Veronica kept glaring at me and looking desperately at Jake. Edward and Jacob kept staring hatefully at Ryan, and Ryan kept thinking indecently about me, acting nervous. I just continued to suffer through it all.

It was Friday, after school, and Jake, Alice, Jasper and I were finishing packing up to go to France, since we were leaving that night. Ryan didn't come home with me, but he was stopping by right before we left.

I was up in my room, finishing packing my clothes and whatnot. About three hours after school got out, the doorbell rang. It was probably Ryan. I ran at a human pace down the stairs to let him in, but Esme beat me there, since she was already downstairs.

"Hello, Ryan," she said, smiling and talking politely.

"Hi, Mrs. Cullen. Hey Nessie!" he exclaimed, finally seeing me.

"Hey," I greeted.

"Come in," Esme allowed.

"Thanks," Ryan said, keeping his eyes on me.

"Um…come on," I said, taking Ryan's arm and leading him up the stairs and to my room. "Sorry, I have to finish packing."

"Oh. That's okay. So…you're gone for two weeks?" he asked sadly.

"Yeah. But I'll still text you and call you and email you and everything," I said, smiling.

"Alright. But I'll still miss you," he said, kissing my forehead.

"I'll miss you, too," I said, hugging him a little.

It was like déjà vu. He brought his face down to mine, wrapping his arm around my waist and placing a hand on my arm. His lips were urgent, moving fast and crushing mine. I kissed him back, but not as passionately. Not nearly as passionately. After about ten seconds, the longest kiss I'd ever had in my life, he started to trail his tongue along my lower lip. I was cautious, very cautious, but I allowed him to hesitantly. But only on my lip, nothing more. I would never allow anything more with Ryan. But then his hand that was on my waist trailed up, running along the edge of my shirt, and going underneath it, trailing up the side of my stomach. I pulled away immediately.

"Ryan," I gasped in shock. I was out of breath; very out breath.

"What? You're my girlfriend! Aren't I allowed to do that?" he panted.

"Um…no! Not without my permission! God…" I trailed, sitting down on my couch.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Nessie. I really am. I…I thought…" he started to say, but then cut off, thinking better of what he was going to say. I didn't really want to read his mind to know what he was going to say.

"Maybe you should wait downstairs until I'm finished packing, okay?" I suggested without room for him to oppose.

"Yeah, sure." He walked to the door, looking rejected, and began down the hallway. I didn't even think about what hell my father and Jacob were sure to give him.

I continued packing. About twenty minutes later, I finally finished packing my fourth bag and went back downstairs. I found Ryan sitting on the couch in the front room in front of the TV. I walked up and sat beside him.

"Hey. I really am sorry about…what happened," he apologized again.

"That's fine, Ryan. Can…can we just forget about it, please?"

"You want to forget about it? Just forget about it? Really, Renesmee?" he asked in complete disbelief.

"Yeah. I do. It may have been fun for you, but I felt like I got assaulted or something," I said, looking him in the eye.

That made him madder. "Oh. So you don't want to kiss your boyfriend, but you do want to kiss your best friend? Really?" he questioned, angered, referring Jacob.

I sighed. "I told you I wanted to forget about it, Ryan."

He exhaled sharply and leaned back on the couch, looking forward. "Fine."

We didn't speak for several minutes after that.

Then Alice called from the top of the stairs, "Nessie, Jacob, are you packed for France yet?"

Ryan abruptly turned to me. "You're going to France with Jacob? You're really going halfway across the world with him? Are you aware that France is probably the most romantic country in the world?" he shouted at me.

"Yes, yes, and yes," I yelled back.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why? What good would it do to tell you? You wouldn't be able to affect my choice!" I screamed at him.

"Why do you have to go to France with him? Why couldn't you go with me?" he erupted.

"Because Alice and Jasper bought the tickets and they were meant for them, Jake and me. And to tell you the truth, I'd rather go to France with Jacob, not you," I screeched.

You'd think I'd just slapped him. His face drained of color, then became tomato red in frustration. "He's going to try something, Nessie," he warned me, pain and anger in his voice.

"So? What if he does? But I know he won't. And that basically tells me that you don't trust me. I'm your girlfriend; you should trust me! And why have you been acting nervous all week, huh? Do you have something to tell me?" I ordered of him.

He was perfectly still then, not breathing, not looking at me. "No," he finally mumbled, voice an octave higher than usual.

"Really? You're sure?" I asked, not buying it for a minute.

He kept a poker face, then, after a minute of me staring at him, he exhaled in defeat. "Fine. I…I ch-cheated on you," he admitted quietly, not looking in my eyes.

I was frozen, glaring at him.

"It was only one time!" he exclaimed, desperate.

"It doesn't matter."

"May I remind you that you cheated on me with Jacob?" he snarled.

"That was a five second kiss and I at least told you about it!" I screeched.

"No, Emmett told me about it!"

"No, Emmett just made me tell you! I could've not told you at all, but I did. And you didn't tell me anything. So tell me something now; who is she?" I demanded.

"She was…Veronica," he said, mumbling the last part.

Hatred filled my body. My boyfriend cheated on me with that slut? No wonder Veronica hated me so much. I was best friends with her ex-boyfriend and was dating the guy she had cheated with.

"When?" I breathed with loathing.

"After your birthday party. After the second time I left. After I left that time, when I was on the main road, I saw her car on the side of the road, pulled over. I guess I didn't see her car the first time or something. So I pulled over to see what was wrong. She was crying. Actually, crying is an understatement. She was probably wasting every fluid in her body. So, I asked her what was wrong and she told me what Jacob did." He growled Jacob's name. "He broke her heart. I hope he knows that. But…after she told me that, I wanted to comfort her, and I did. It didn't start out as anything at first, but then…her face was so close, and…she kissed me. I pulled away, but then she started crying again. I was reminded that you kissed Jacob, so I decided to kiss Veronica more, so I wouldn't be the only one who felt pain. Then she started saying she loved me, and then we—" he explained, but I cut him off.

"Okay, I really don't want to know what happened after that," I said, disgusted, standing up and walking to the door.

"Nessie, where are you going?" he asked, getting up and following me.

"Showing you the door," I said, annoyed.

"No! You can't kick me out! I leave when I say so," he bellowed.

It seemed to me like he appeared from nowhere. "Leave. Right now. Or you _will_ regret it," he said heatedly.

"You can't tell me what to do," Ryan said venomously.

Jacob's jaw tensed. He grasped Ryan's shoulder and held it a little tighter than was comfortable. Ryan winced in pain. "It's my house. So you go by my rules. Now. Leave," he growled. Ryan just looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Goodbye, Ryan." I opened the front door and pushed him out, putting a little too much force to it. That was after Jacob let go of his shoulder, of course. Jake backed away before his trembling got out of control.

"Nessie!" Ryan said, appalled.

"I'm sorry, Ryan. But I can't date you if you're going to be as insecure and jealous as you are after you cheated on me, too. So goodbye." I closed the door in his face.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. He had stopped shaking. "Ness, you okay?" he asked with sincere concern.

When I spoke, my voice sounded a little broken. "Yeah. I think so." I was surprised. Surprised because I didn't think I'd be this affected by Ryan, that the knowledge of him cheating me could wound me so deeply. I didn't hate him, but I didn't love him either.

"Nessie, you can cry if you want," he whispered, stroking my hair by my ear soothingly.

I felt the first tear fall, but it definitely wasn't the last.

Jacob held me the whole time. But after the first few minutes, he led me over to the couch, sitting me on his lap. I rested my head on his chest, still sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shhh, Ness. It's okay," he repeated, holding me tight and stroking my hair and back.

This is one of the many reasons why I love Jacob so much. He comforted me despite the reason, and he was so loving. He didn't say 'get over it, he wasn't right for you anyway' or 'stop crying.' He actually comforted me, and didn't remind me of what happened, which made my heart heal faster. Jacob really was perfect for me, meant for me.

After about twenty minutes of my tears, they came to an end. My head still lay on Jacob's strong chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling his stomach move slightly up and down as he breathed.

"Thanks Jake," I whispered. My voice sounded odd and unnatural. It sounded broken but at the same time strong. The strong probably wouldn't last long; it was most likely only because Jacob was here with me.

He kissed the top of my head. "Don't thank me, Nessie. I didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done." He reached up and wiped away the last of my tears with his thumb gently.

"Yes, you did." I leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I love you, Jake."

"I love you too, Nessie. Now, are you ready to go to France?" he said, looking eager.

I laughed, a warped sound escaping my lips. Jacob laughed in response, his warm, golden, rich laughter warming my heart. "Okay, let's go." He picked me up in his arms and ran me up the stairs to Alice and Jasper's room. Jacob knocked on the door and Jasper opened it, revealing an Alice with suit cases towering over her in her arms. How can anyone have that much luggage to take?

Jasper felt my surprise. "Only three of those are mine," he told me. I chuckled.

"So, are you two packed and ready to go?" Alice asked, excited.

"Yeah, Alice. Oh, and thank you," I acknowledged.

"For what?"

"Asking if me and Jake were packed for France yet."

"And why are you thanking me for that, exactly?" she asked, confused.

"Because it made me break up with Ryan. And find out the truth. So thank you, Aunt Alice," I said, smiling at her. I would have hugged her, but her arms were still full of nine suitcases. It's a really good thing Alice was short and the ceilings were high.

"Oh. You're welcome, I guess." She looked confused. "I'll be right back, just let me take these out to the car." Then she flew out of the room.

"Um, Jasper, what car are we driving, exactly?" I asked.

"Emmett's Jeep. It's big enough for all of the suitcases for a short time, so…" Jasper trailed.

"Oh." Alice then ran back into the room.

"Nessie, your suitcases are in your room, right?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I told her, and she ran to my room. She ran back holding my four suitcases.

"This is all you're taking?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, Alice. That's all I need to take."

She groaned in exasperation and ran back down the stairs and presumably out to the garage. Then she came back up to get Jacob's two suitcases, which she also complained about.

"I really need to teach all of you how to pack," she said on our way downstairs.

"Alice, Sweetheart, only you feel the need to pack six suitcases for a two week trip. Especially when you know we're going to be shopping," Jasper said, grinning.

Alice pouted.

"Nessie!" Bella said, running in the back door. She and my dad had gone hunting so they could go to the airport with us when we left. Alice and Japer went earlier.

"Hi, Mom," I said, smiling and hugging her as she ran to my arms.

"What's the matter, Sweetie?" she asked me, concern masking her porcelain face.

"Um…nothing. I'll tell you later." I was actually surprised that Edward hadn't told her; unless he didn't know, either.

"I know, Sweetheart. I'm so sorry," Edward said, smiling sympathetically and embracing me.

"That's okay, Daddy. It's not your fault." I hugged him back.

"And thank you, too, Jacob. For comforting her…" he trailed.

"It's what I'm here for, right?" Jacob said jokingly. I heard a grin in his voice.

"Okay, what's going on?" Bella questioned, putting her hands on her hips.

"Ryan broke up with me. Or rather I broke up with Ryan," I said, looking at the crème carpet below my feet.

"Oh, Sweetie I'm sorry. Do you mind me asking why?"

"A lot of reasons. Can I show you, you know, rather than explaining it?" I inquired, taking a step closer to her.

"Of course, Nessie. Whatever you prefer," she allowed.

I walked up to her and placed my palm to her face. No matter how hard I tried that would always be a habit. I showed her images of me and Ryan arguing; there were many, as I'd just now noticed. Most from the after the time he cheated on me. I showed her when he kissed me this afternoon, how I thought it went too far, and how he was mad at me for stopping it. I saw my mother and father flinched when I replayed that. Then I showed the following argument, about forgetting what happened. Then I replayed what Alice called down the stairs, what started it all. I showed how he exploded with anger, what he said, what I said. How Ryan made such a big deal out me going to France with Jacob for two weeks. Then I projected what Ryan had confessed, when he admitted to cheating on me. Then I recapped after that, when I was heartbroken and Jacob was there, how he's always been there for me. Then I stopped projecting, taking my hand away from her face.

"Oh, Nessie, Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. You don't deserve that, Honey," she said as she pulled me into a loving, caring, motherly hug.

I inhaled. "It's okay, Mom. I'm over it, I think," I told her, not quite sure about if I am or not.

All of the sudden, Alice screeched, "Come on! We're going to be late!" She ran out the door, Jasper closely behind.

We all followed her out to the garage. Jake and I climbed into my dad's Volvo with my parents and Alice and Jasper got into Emmett's Jeep. Bella and Edward were going to take home both cars after the plane leaves.

In about fifteen minutes, we were in the airport parking lot and carrying our suitcases up to the front desk. The person at the desk told us where to go and then we went off the find our plane. Alice, Jasper, Jacob and I had to go through security and everything. Let me tell you, when the guys patted you down, it was very invading. The guy who patted me down was probably in his twenties, and I think he checked me very thoroughly; far too thorough than necessary. Jacob and my father didn't like this, and neither did I.

When we were about to board, my dad said to Jake, "Dog, you better behave yourself."

Jake just rolled his eyes.

After about five minutes, Alice, Jasper, Jacob and I were boarding the plane to New York. After that, we were going to go on with our trip.

From the plane window, as the plane took off, I waved goodbye to my parents, goodbye to Nevada, and hopefully goodbye to heartbreak, too.

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**A/N: There you go! Ryan goes bye-bye! lol. Thank you for reading, and please, please, please review! Only nicely, please. Because someone commented _very_ rudely on this story, and it made me sad. :,( So please, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't review unless it's constructive or nice. Because the review I got was just plain mean. And it's my version of what happens; that doesn't mean you have to like it, or even read it. Just respect it. **

**Okay, now that I'm done ranting... :) Thanks to everyone who read this chapter and/or the rest of my story and commented nicely! :) You're awesome! Please review, and I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow, once I'm done editing. Then I'm going to write countless poems. ;) Anyway, thanks for reading and please, please, please review! They help me write! :)**

**Oh, and part of the idea for this chapter came from a review I got from _Skb. xD _. Thank you! You're awesome! And your review made me laugh, so thanks for that, too. :) **


	27. Would You Rather

**A/N: Chapter 27! Ta da! lolz. :) As I promised, chapter 27 is up now! :) I hope you like it! But sorry if it seems awkward at times... :/ Anyway...Please review!**

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_**Chapter 27**__**: Would You Rather**_

**_Renesmee Cullen's POV_**

As the plane lifted off, we were told to buckle our seatbelts. Though Jacob, Jasper, Alice and I didn't need to, we did anyway.

About an hour after we got on the plane, I started to doze off. I leaned against Jacob's shoulder, and he put an arm around my shoulders. The heat was comforting, and I fell asleep quickly.

I remember dreaming about Paris. I had never been there, but I had learned about it. I imagined its beautiful architecture, and not to mention history. I dreamt of the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. I knew Jacob would love their choices for dining, and Alice would love their boutiques. Jasper would probably have a hard time dealing with all the romance, but oh well. Overall, my dream was very pleasant.

When I woke up, I felt _very_ hot. Then I remembered Jacob was holding me. I opened my eyes.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty." Jake smiled at me.

I smiled back. "Hey. How long have I been sleeping?"

"Well, we're almost to New York, so about eight hours. You must have been tired," he told me.

My eyes were wide. "Yeah, I guess so. How far away are we?"

"About an hour. Then we wait another five hours for the other plane, which sucks, I know. Then off to Paris we go," he told me, smiling. His beautiful smile made me smile back.

"Alright. One more hour. An hour that I will be bored," I told him, leaning back in my seat and staring at the low ceiling of the plane. First class seats, of course. Alice wouldn't have any less.

"Well...we could..." he trailed, unsure of what to say.

"Play twenty questions?" I suggested.

"No. That's not fair. You can read my mind for what I'm thinking of," he told me.

I sighed. "Fine. Would you rather?" I asked, hopeful.

He chuckled. "Sure. You go first."

"Okay, um... Would you rather have a cat or a dog?" I questioned. That was all the better of a question I could come up with at the moment.

"Dog," he answered.

"How'd I know you were going to say that?" I joked.

He smiled. "Okay. My turn. Hmmm... Would you rather live somewhere hot for the rest of your life or somewhere cold?"

"Um... Cold, seeming as if I live somewhere hot I'll probably overheat and die or something," I said, grinning. "Would you rather go through Chinese Water Torture for the rest of your life or live alone with Rosalie for the rest of your life?"

"Where'd Emmett go?" Jacob asked teasingly. I laughed a little. "Hmmm… Well, both are horrible...but I would rather go through Chinese Water Torture than live with Blondie alone," he replied.

Alice chimed in from the seat in front of us. "I'm telling Rosalie you said that, Jacob," she threatened.

"What do I care? She already hates me," he said, shrugging. I smacked his arm lightly. He chuckled. "Okay. Um... Would you rather skydive from...really high or bungee jump from the Sears Tower?"

"Um...skydive. It seems less scary," I answered. He chuckled. "Okay... Would you rather have imprinted on Rosalie or Leah?" I asked, smirking. I knew both of them were impossible to imprint on, but oh well.

"Okay, what's with all the Blondie questions?" he said, holding his hands up. "And you know I've already imprinted, so..."

"I know. Answer anyway." I tilted my head, waiting for his answer.

"Well, about eight years ago I would have rather died than imprint on either of them. But Leah's become more tolerable. So Leah. I would seriously want to die if I imprinted on Rosalie," he answered. I laughed.

"Are you glad?" I asked quietly.

"Glad for what?" he questioned, confused.

"Glad you imprinted on me," I clarified in a whisper.

He kissed the top of my head. "Of course I am. More than you could imagine," he said sweetly.

I smiled a little. "Thanks, Jake. I…I'm glad you imprinted on me, too," I admitted in a breath.

"Okay, Jacob. I have a question for you," Alice said, smirking almost deviously. "Would you rather have imprinted on Bella or Nessie?"

"Um... Well… Before or after Nessie was born?" Jacob asked, uncomfortable.

"After. And...something happened to Edward, and Bella was all lonely. And wasn't a vampire," she said, raising her eyebrows, the smirk still on her face.

"Sorry Bella. I pick Nessie."

"Are you sure, Jacob? I remember you feelings from when you were around just Bella. Before Nessie was born," Jasper said, grinning.

"Jasper, shut up," Jacob growled, looking straight forward.

"Don't worry, Jacob. I was kidding. Your feelings are much stronger right now, trust me." Jasper sat back in his seat.

Jacob looked _very_ uncomfortable. He turned to me, not looking in my eyes. "Maybe we should play something else," he said, almost embarrassed.

I laughed at his uneasiness. "Jacob, I'm not mad at you or anything. I know you use to like my mom. Even though it extremely grosses me out—like, you wouldn't believe how much—I don't judge you or anything," I told him sincerely.

He smiled. "Thanks, Ness. So...my turn?"

"Yup."

"Alright. Uh... Would you rather cross-dress for two weeks or make-out with Seth?" he asked, amusement on his face.

"Jacob!" I exclaimed.

"What? It's a question, isn't it? Answer it," he said, grinning.

I sighed. "Aren't you an option for the making-out?" I teased.

He looked a bit surprised, but chuckled anyway. "Nope. Seth or dress as a guy for fourteen days. Which will it be?"

"Um...Seth. I could get that over in a few minutes," I said in a joking tone.

"I'm telling Seth that next time I...'hear' him. Not that I have a choice anyway," he said, shrugging.

I hit his arm again. "No! Unless my life depended on it, I wouldn't make-out with Seth. That would just be weird. He's like my brother," I said, crinkling my nose.

"Yes, but I was like your brother, too," he said, raising his eyebrows and smirking.

"Yes, but you're a...different type of brother...a-and... That doesn't count!" I exclaimed an octave higher than usual, flustered.

He just laughed.

"Attention all passengers, we will be landing in the New York City airport in approximately five minutes. Please buckle your seatbelts and prepare for landing," a flight attendant told us over a loud speaker.

"Four minutes and forty one seconds," Alice muttered.

Sure enough, four minutes and forty one seconds later, we were safely landed on the ground and we started getting off the plane. We went towards the waiting area with just our carry-on bags and for Alice and I our purses.

"Okay, since we have six hours—there was a one hour delay—do you guys want to go shopping?" Alice suggested eagerly.

"No. Oh, please no," Jacob groaned.

I agreed with him. "Um... Alice...it's like six in the morning. I doubt any good clothing stores will be open this early," I said logically.

She pouted. "Fine. We'll mini shop. They have souvenir stores and whatnot here!" she said, peppy again.

"Oh no. Crazy vampire pixie is coming and is about to go on a shopping spree. We're all gonna die," Jacob whispered in a serious tone in my ear. I laughed.

Alice was glaring at him. "I heard that, Jacob Black," she said menacingly.

"Maybe it was intended for you to," Jacob said in a funny sounding tone.

Alice continued to glare at him. My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten since right after I got home from school, and I didn't have anything on the plane.

"Do you want to go find a restaurant or something, Ness?" Jake questioned, having heard my stomach.

"Yes please. Alice, you and Jasper can go shop, if you want," I said as me and Jake walked away towards were the most people were heading. "Sorry Jasper," I muttered as I walked away. I heard him chuckle.

We got to a sort of food court set up with common fast food places, along with a couple sit down type restaurants.

"What do you want?" I asked Jake.

"I don't care. You pick," he answered.

"Do you want to go to Pizza Hut?" I suggested with false enthusiasm.

He smiled. "Sure."

We walked over to the restaurant, barely secluded, and waited at the podium.

The hostess was a guy in probably his mid-thirties. Thank God he didn't find me attractive.

"Two?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, and he led us to a booth near the back. Of course, with my luck, our table was by a table of all teenage girls who already had their eyes glued to Jake.

"Here you go. Your waiter will be right with you," he said, placing menus in front of both of us.

"Thanks," I said, smiling politely.

He walked slowly away. Or at least it was slow to me.

The giggling group of girls were constantly looking over at our table, their eyes stuck on Jake.

"They're going to drive me crazy," I growled quietly.

He chuckled, smiling beautifully. "Just ignore them. You know, we could pretend we're, like, dating and they would probably back off," he said deviously.

I took a deep breath. "Okay." I slid out of the booth and went to sit next to him on his side, blocking the girl's view. I could hear them snicker. Jake put his arm around my shoulder. "This isn't weird at all," I whispered sarcastically.

He laughed. "Hey, you were the one who agreed. I just suggested." I smiled, shaking my head.

Right then the waitress, a girl in her mid-forties with dark brown hair and green eyes came to take our drink orders.

"Hello. What can I get you both to drink?" she asked, smiling politely.

"Pepsi, please," I answered.

"Me too," Jake said.

"Okay. Would either of you like a salad bar?" she asked.

"Um...sure," I replied, looking to Jake.

"We both will, thanks," he said.

"Okay. Help yourself to the salad bar, and I'll be right back with your drinks." She walked away.

A few minutes later Jake and I both had a plate full of salad.

"Here are your drinks," the waitress said, placing our drinks in front of us.

"Thank you," we both said.

"No problem. Are you two ready to order?" she asked.

"Um, yeah. Can we have a large sausage pizza, please?" I ordered.

"Sure. It'll be out in about ten minutes," she told us, walking hack to the kitchen.

"I don't think the whole 'pretending to date' thing is working. They're all still staring at you, just less intensely," I whispered to Jacob, taking a bite of my salad.

He sighed. "Damn it."

I giggled a little. "You know, they might back off more if we kissed," I said quietly. Did I really just say that?

He just chuckled. "Pizza Hut isn't really my ideal second kiss," he said softly. "Maybe the Eiffel Tower, but..."

My breath caught. "Jacob," I said in a desirable but warning voice.

He chuckled beautifully again. "I'm just kidding, Ness. You're dad will really kill me this time," he said.

"You're probably right. But he said he couldn't kill you because it would kill me. So you're welcome for loving you," I said, smiling smugly.

"Thank you so much, Nessie," he answered sarcastically.

A few minutes later the waitress brought our pizza out. About twenty minutes after that we were done eating, had paid, and were going back to the main part of the airport to try and find Alice and Jasper.

"Where should we look?" Jake asked.

"Well, gee, I don't know. Maybe in a store of some sort," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He laughed a little as we scampered to the nearest store. Alice was there, looking around.

"Hey. Did you enjoy your early morning snack?" Alice inquired, smirking.

"Yes," Jacob and I replied in unison.

"I wish I could have an early morning snack," I heard Jasper mumble. Alice smacked his arm.

"No. Bad Jasper," she said with disappointment.

I chuckled a little, then turned to Jake.

"Do you want to walk randomly around the airport? I'm bored," I asked him.

"Um...sure..."

"Alright. Alice, can we—"

"Just be back by eleven thirty," she interrupted.

"Okay. See you later," I said as Jacob and I walked out of the store and headed in the opposite direction. We found a sitting area and sat down on a small couch. It wasn't very comfortable, I might add.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Jake asked, leaning back against the back of the crème, average sofa.

I smirked. "Want to play would you rather?"

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**A/N: I know it's short, but it's not the shortest chapter in this story! :) If you liked it, please review! If you didn't like it, please review! (Nicely or constructively, please) If you thought this chapter was okay, please review! :D **

**I was at my friend's house when I wrote this, and we were both typing on our iPods and listening to the Twilight soundtracks. So sorry if there are any typos. :) And my friend helped me think of some of the would you rather questions in this chapter. I think some of them are funny, so I'll give Deloren96 credit for the questions she came up with. :) Thanks! **

**Now I am going to go finish chapter 28, and I'm sorry if it's not up tomorrow. I have about 4 paragraphs right now lolz. But I'll hopefully get chapter 28 posted in the next couple days. **

**P.S: Reviews help me type faster. ;)**


	28. Goodbye Heartbreak, Hello Paris

**A/N: Here's chapter 28! I actually got it typed by today! But I did stay up until, like, 1:00 typing, so now I'm tired. :( This chapter has a lot of description for the house and what ever else, so if you get really tired of descriptive words and whatnot, then sorry. :) And sorry if it seems kind of awkward at a certain part...you'll probably know what part I'm referring to. :) Thank you for reading, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for reading!**

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_**Chapter 28: Goodbye Heartbreak, Hello Paris**_

Renesmee Cullen's POV

"Oh my God. Do you like torturing me? Fine. I'd rather go shopping with Alice for a day than bond with your father."

I laughed. Jake and I had just played would you rather for about four hours.

"Wow, Jake. I didn't know you thought my dad was _that_ horrible. And do you think we should go try and find Alice and Jasper again?" I questioned.

"Yeah, probably. Come on, let's go." He stood up and I followed as we went looking for another store that Alice and Jasper may possibly be in.

After about fifteen minutes of searching, we found her in the souvenir shop closest to the boarding place for the next plane we were to get on.

"Wow. You're actually on time," Alice said, smirking.

I raised my eyebrows. "Why do you say that?"

"No reason," Alice said quickly.

"Mmm hmm," I said, rolling my eyes. I knew better than to try to read Alice's mind. She had practice hiding her thoughts.

"Now boarding the next flight to Paris, France. This is the first call. Now boarding the next flight to Paris, France," a voice over the intercom spoke.

"Let me pay, and then we'll go, alright?" Alice said, rushing to the checkout line, where there was only one person in front of her.

About three minutes later, Jacob, Alice, Jasper and I were on our way to our next plane. After going through another far too invasive security check, we were back on a plane.

I was _so_ excited to go to France. I was literally bouncing in my seat.

"Excited much?" Jacob asked me, his eyebrows raised and the corners of his mouth curling up for a smile.

"Are you kidding? Try to convince me _you_ aren't excited that we're going to France," I said, still happy beyond belief.

He chuckled. "Of course I am. But I'm not acting like a hyped up bunny, either," he said, smirking.

"No, you're just an excited wolf," I said, lightly hitting his arm.

He chuckled. "I should've seen that one coming," he said, sighing.

"Everyone please buckle your seat belts, we're preparing for takeoff," a female voice said over the loud speaker. Everyone on the plane buckled their seat belts.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Everyone, please buckle your seatbelts and prepare for landing."

I was bouncing in my seat again.

"Oh. My. God. We're in France," I said breathlessly, not believing my own words.

Jake chuckled, buckling his seat belt. I followed suit. "Yes, we are, aren't we? I can tell you're not excited at all," he said sarcastically.

"Nessie, what's the big deal?" Alice asked. "It's only France."

"Sure, you say that, since you've been to France countless times," Jake said, rolling his eyes.

"You can't count to twenty-seven? That's sad, Jacob. Really sad," she retorted. Jasper and I chuckled a bit. Jake just rolled his eyes again.

As the plane started to descend, I got more and more ecstatic. There was a smile on my face that anyone could plainly see. I was like a nine year old let loose in Disney World with no one else in sight.

When we could finally get off the plane, Jasper, Alice, Jacob and I got our carryon bags and whatnot and went into the airport. It was a lot like the ones in America, only cooler, because it was French.

Suddenly it seemed like Alice, Jasper and Jacob were very slow walkers, because they _definitely_ weren't fast enough for me.

"Come on, hurry up," I groaned as I looked behind me towards them. Jake ran at a human pace up to me, laughing at my eagerness.

"Nessie, we have to get our luggage first," he told me, putting his hand on my shoulder to restrain me.

"Who cares about luggage? We're going to go shopping later," I pouted.

"Actually, Nessie, I postponed the shopping until tomorrow. Tonight we're visiting the Eiffel Tower and you two are going to eat dinner at the fancy, expensive, apparently delicious restaurant they have there," Alice told us. "You're welcome, Jake."

"Cool, thanks Alice," I said. "What's it called?"

"_Le Jules Verne_," she said with a French accent.

"Whoa, Alice, that's, like, the _really, really_ fancy restaurant. Isn't it, like, a hundred dollars per person or something? And don't you need to dress up, like, suit and tie and dress?" Jacob inquired, appalled. "Because I didn't pack anything nearly fancy enough."

"Yeah, neither did I," I said, getting paranoid.

"Don't worry, I packed two suits for you, Jake, and two dresses for you, Ness," she explained, smiling smugly. "And Jacob, haven't you learned by now that money is not a problem for me? No, us?"

Jake just sighed.

After we had gotten our suit cases, I asked impatiently, "Can we _please_ go now? I'm getting sort of hungry," I complained.

"Yes, Nessie. We're leaving now," Jasper informed, calming me down and making me more patient.

"Where are we staying?" Jake asked.

"We rented a house," Alice said simply.

"Don't you mean mansion?" Jake mumbled. I chuckled.

"Yeah, probably," I muttered back. Alice and Jasper stayed silent.

When we got to the airport's parking lot, Alice skipped right to an Italian sports car. And an expensive one, at that.

"Whoa, where did you get _that_?" Jacob asked, what with him obsessing over cars and all.

"Our car for the next two weeks," Alice said proudly. "I rented it," she told us, sliding her hand across the slick black paint. It was shiny even in the oncoming moonlight.

"Alice, Nessie and Jacob's restaurant reservations are in an hour. We have to get to the house quickly," Jasper said, placing his hand on the car handle.

"Oh!" Alice squeaked, unlocking the car and hurrying over to the passenger side while everyone else got in.

Jasper zoomed put of the parking lot and onto the highway, going towards what I supposed to be our rented house.

"We're here!" Alice exclaimed as the car came to a stop in the driveway a few minutes later.

The house was amazing. The outside was dominantly brick, but also had sections of crème paint. There were pots of flowers lining the path up to the front door, as well as on the front porch, which had a swing. The swing was a bronze, silver medal frame with a mix of crème and coffee brown stripes in fabric form for the sitting part. I could tell the house was just two stories, and that was perfectly fine with me.

"Oh my God. It's beautiful," I breathed.

"Isn't it, though?" Alice admired.

"Reservations," Jasper whispered in Alice's ear.

It was like a flip was switched. One moment Alice was staring at the house adoringly, the next minute she had me and Jake by the arm, towing us up the beautiful stone path and to the front door, which Jasper unlocked.

"Jasper, can you handle Jake while I get Nessie ready?" Alice asked without looking at him.

"Sure, Sweetheart. I'll go get the suitcases. I'll be back in a few seconds." He flew back out the door.

Before I knew it I was in an amazing, dark crimson colored room. Alice still had me and Jake by the arm, but had at least stopped running, waiting for Jasper. So, in the two seconds it took Jasper to get back upstairs with the suitcases, I admired the room.

It was quite large, having dark brown carpet with a patterned area rug the same color as the walls. Over half of the room was carpet while the other section was stained pine floor, making a sitting area. All of the colors in the room went well with each other, complimenting nicely. I turned my head to see two queen beds in the right corner of the room. Maybe this was me and Jacob's room...? Wow, it's a good thing my dad's not here. He would absolutely hate that. There was a dark maple wood side table in between the beds with a small lamp sitting upon it. Back by the sitting area I saw a _very_ large TV hanging on the wall, along with a computer desk in the corner and a large stereo system sitting on the floor near the TV. Then I saw the huge, beautiful French doors leading out to what could only be a balcony. The doors had medium color brown curtains lying elegantly around it, framing the light cherry wood. Overall, the room was absolutely astounding.

Well, all I have to say is that if this is my room, I am perhaps the luckiest girl in the world.

Right then Jasper entered the room carrying only two suitcases in his arms.

"I left the other suitcases that you didn't need downstairs," Jasper informed Alice, setting the luggage down on the floor.

"Thank you, Jazz. Can you take Jacob into the other bedroom to get him ready for dinner, please?" Alice questioned.

"Alice, I'm capable of getting dressed myself," Jacob objected.

"Yes, but you have very little fashion sense, if any at all. Just be lucky _I'm_ not dressing you," Alice said, turning her back in them and leading me to what seemed to be a bathroom.

"Alright Ness, take a really quick shower. And by quick, I mean no more than two minutes; I still need beautifying time. There's already shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower, and they're the kind you use, so just hurry. I'll set a towel in there when you're in the shower," Alice instructed, going back into the wonderful room I had just been in.

As she told me, I started to get ready for a shower. As I got undressed, quickly I might add, I assessed the bathroom. It was quite large, too, but it had beige walls with white borders. The floor was a dark cherry wood color with a few scattered patterned rugs. It had a swirled, dark marble sink top and a washed out silver faucet. There were actually two elegant sinks that were in between walls, so they had built in wood cabinets lying in the walls. There was a mirror that stretched in front of the whole length. In a corner the bathroom had a bathtub that looked more like a Jacuzzi. Its' color matched the sink tops', as well as the foundation bordering it. It also had what looked to be a rather big towel closet. In the opposite corner of the bathtub was the shower. It was also marble, only a lighter beige color. There were maroon curtains that hung down from the surprisingly elegant unpolished silver shower rod. The curtains were the color of the walls in the main bedroom, and they looked perfect in the bathroom, the colors coming together nicely. I had to admit that the bathroom was very pretty.

I hastily got in the shower and got cleaned, not that I was dirty in the first place. But I guess I had been in an airport and or a plane all day.

Within a few minutes I was clean and dried off, reentering the beautiful main room to find Alice sitting on one of the black leather couches, a gorgeous silk dress on either side of her.

"Finally! You're done! Now, let's get you dressed," she said, standing up and making her way over to me. She held up both dresses in front of me. "Which one do you like better?" she questioned eagerly.

One of the dresses was just past knee length and was halter style. It was a deep red, which coincidently matched the room's color. The top of the dress was pretty low, but I could deal with it. The other dress was the same length as the first and had two thin straps. It was a deep violet, and was absolutely beautiful. This one was fairly low cut, too, though going straight across in the front instead of forming a 'V' like the other one. They both looked form fitting, but were both also stunning.

"Um... I don't know, they're both so gorgeous..." I trailed.

"Why don't you do the purple one?" Alice suggested.

"Okay." Before I knew it, Alice was throwing me clothes to go put on, those clothes consisting of silky lingerie. "Alice!" I exclaimed in disbelief when I saw them.

"Relax, they're for under the dress," she tried to reassure me.

I took a deep breath and entered the bathroom again.

"Come back out when you're done putting those on so I can help you with the dress," Alice told me as I closed the door.

How could I wear these? I'm seven for crying out loud! What other seven year old wears lingerie?

Despite my silent objection to the lingerie, I put them on anyway. I walked out of the bathroom slowly, a hateful expression on my face.

"Dress time!" Alice squealed as she came towards me, slipping the dress over my head.

I was right. The dress was form fitting. Perhaps too form fitting. I sighed internally.

"Do you like it?" Alice asked with glee.

"Yeah," I answered shortly.

"Okay, good. Now we have to fix your hair quickly, we only have a little bit of time before the reservations..." she trailed, taking a hair dryer and curling iron from the suitcase she had in the room. The other suitcase Jasper had apparently taken with him.

"Alice, my hair is already curly enough. It doesn't need to be curlier," I complained as she towed me to the bathroom, instructing me to sit on the cold, marble countertop.

"It'll be even prettier when I'm done. It will be more elegant," she informed me, running the hair dryer. I cut off any other complaints, finding them useless at the moment.

After my hair was dry, Alice combed it quickly but gently. When she was done with combing, she curled it, leaving shiny, bronze ringlets draping across my shoulders, reaching the beautiful silk material of my dress and going together nicely.

After spending about fifteen minutes on my hair, Alice finally said the two most wonderful words at that moment: "I'm done!"

I hopped off the counter and followed Alice into the bedroom, where she dug through the now dreaded suitcase again. She pulled out a pair of heels that matched the color of my dress. They had diamond studded straps that were really pretty, but probably not that comfortable at all.

"Here," Alice said, tossing them to me.

I sat down on one of the black leather chairs and slipped on the heels. When I stood up, I wobbled at first, but then straightened myself out.

"Now come on, let's go!" Alice raced down the stairs, and I followed, moving as fast as I could in the three and a half inch heels.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs and followed Alice into the living room, I heard Jacob gasp and his heartbeat increase.

"Wow, Ness. You look beautiful," he breathed in awe.

I smiled at him. "Thank you. So do you."

Jacob was wearing a stunning black suit with a deep blue dress shirt underneath, the top four buttons opened to form a 'V', exposing part of his collar bone and the very start of his glorious, muscular chest. His defined abs seemed to strain against the fabric, making them noticeable. The top part of his suit wasn't buttoned, and I thanked Jasper for that.

Jacob Black looked to be the sexiest human being ever to walk this earth.

His deep, velvet voice interrupted my admiring. "I'm beautiful?" he asked jokingly, raising his eyebrows.

"Handsome," I rephrased, smiling and taking a step closer to where he was standing subconsciously. It was like gravity.

"Yeah, yeah, you're both absolutely, amazingly pretty, handsome, whatever. Can we go now?" Alice said impatiently. She sounded like I did earlier.

"Yeah," I muttered, unwillingly pulling my eyes away from Jake and going out the front door and to the car.

When everyone was in, Jasper sped away from the amazing house, going towards the main part of Paris.

"So what are you and Jasper going to do while we're eating?" I asked curiously.

"Hunt. They have some wildlife here that we don't have back home, so we're seeing how they taste," Alice told me.

"We'll leave the car with you when we drop you off," Jasper said. "Come home whenever. We'll probably be back later tomorrow, so we won't know the difference."

Oh. My. God. This is _awesome_! No curfew? Thank God!

"Jasper! No. Be home before tomorrow, at least, please," Alice said. "You can visit the parks or whatever; lord knows no criminal is a danger to either of you, just be back at a reasonable time, alright? Oh, and I'm pretty sure your father is planning to call you after dinner, Ness," she told me. "Here's your purse. Your phone and wallet is in it. I put four hundred dollars in your wallet; that will be far more than you need for dinner." She handed me a small silk clutch bag that matched the color of my dress.

I had to keep myself from sighing. Bye-bye, sweet freedom. "Alright. Thanks, Alice. Thanks, Jasper." I took the purse from Alice.

"You're welcome. Just please behave yourselves. I don't want Edward to kill me, thank you," Alice said.

Both Jake and I stayed silent until we got to the Eiffel Tower.

Oh my God. It was absolutely amazing. There were no words to explain it. The only thing I could even closely compare it to for its beauty was Jacob. Wow.

This _had_ to be the best night of my life.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! And if I write what I'm planning to write in the next chapter, many of you will like it. ;) *hint* lol. I'll try to get chapter 29 posted by tomorrow, but I haven't even started typing it yet... whoopsies. :) So sorry if chapter 29 is short. ;) **

**Thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews make me type faster. :) And better. ;) **


	29. Bliss

**A/N: Chapter 29. At the Eiffel Tower. In Paris, France. At a restaurant. Where French people talk. So they're bound to speak French. So I should tell you that there is a little French dialouge when they're at the restaurant. But don't worry. Nessie speaks French. ;) By the way, I used the translator from dictionary . com, so sorry if some phrases are messed up. Not sure if all the information is accurate or not. And sorry if some parts of this chapter feels awkward, but...(shrugs) oh well. It's bound to be awkward. Anyway, I won't keep you from chapter 29 any longer. **

**:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) heh heh heh :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)**

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_**Chapter 29: Bliss**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

"Wow. This is absolutely amazing," I breathed.

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. But when I looked over at him, he was looking at me. I looked down at the ground and smiled.

"Come on!" Alice said, ruining the moment.

"Thanks a lot, Alice," I mumbled unintelligibly.

When we were at the doors of the restaurant, I was amazed. For how late it was, there were many people there, most dressed fancier than Jacob and I.

"Alright. Tell them you have a reservation for Hale. And like I said, don't be home too late, please, or your dad will not be pleased with me," Alice told us. "Bye, Nessie, bye Jake. Have fun." Then Alice and Jasper left.

"Come on," Jacob said, taking my hand without thinking about it. We walked to the fancy podium and told the host about our reservations.

"_Droit de cette fa__ç__on_," the host said in French, grabbing two menus and leading us to a round table with a fancy, deep blue table cloth.

"What did he say?" Jacob whispered.

"Right this way," I translated, following the host.

"Ah. That would make sense," Jacob said. I chuckled.

"_Bon appétit_," the host said, setting our menus on the table.

"_Merci_," I said, sitting down on one of the fancy wooden chairs.

The host walked back up to the podium as Jacob sat down in the seat next to me.

"I think I understood that. He said 'enjoy your meal' or something like that and you said 'thanks', right?" Jacob asked.

I chuckled again. "Yes. Good job," I praised.

"So… Since I know pretty much no French and I'm eating here, can you translate the menu so I don't end up with frog legs and snails?" he asked, smiling.

I laughed. "Yes, Jake. I'll save you from the snails and frogs."

"Thank God," he said dramatically, still smiling.

After a minute or so, he pointed at his menu. "What's this?" He set the menu in front of me.

I read the description. _P__â__tes aux crevettes __à__ la sauce crème de homard et fromage de ch__è__vre. _"It's basically pasta with lobster crème sauce and shrimp and goat cheese on top," I told him, handing him his menu back.

"Okay. Good. I'll get that," he said, closing the menu.

"I will, too," I said. "Do you want to get French onion soup, too?"

"No. Then my breath will smell like onions," he said.

"Why does it matter if your breath smells like onions?" I asked skeptically.

"B-because… I just don't want to have onion breath. Is that a bad thing?" he questioned.

"Well, no, but…" I sighed. "Nevermind."

Our waiter then came out of the kitchen carrying a basket of very yummy looking bread and olive oil with a parmesan cheese and pepper mix to dip the bread in. It looked really good, and I hadn't even tasted it yet.

The waiter looked to be about forty or so, with brown hair and green eyes. He was dressed pretty fancy for a waiter.

"_Bonjour, mon nom est Charles et je serai votre serveur ce soir_," the waiter, whose name was apparently Charles, greeted.

Jacob gave me a looked that said, "What?"

_He said 'Hello, my name is Charles and I'll be your waiter tonight,' _I projected to Jake. He nodded.

"_Bonjour_," I said, smiling politely.

"_Que puis-je obtenir pour vous __à__ boire? Nous avons du vin, champagne, café, th__é__ chauds et glac__é__s, avec d'autres boissons gazeuses_," Charles asked in a perfect French accent.

I told Jake what he said again. _This time he said, 'What can I get for you to drink? We have wine, champagne, coffee, hot and iced tea, along with other soft drinks'._

"_Je vais prendre le th__é__ glac__é__, s'il vous pla__î__t_," I said, ordering the iced tea, since I wasn't allowed to have any alcohol. "What do you want, Jake?"

"Um…wine," he said, totally nonchalant.

"What? You…" It was then that I remembered that Jacob was, in fact, over twenty-one. Why did I have to be seven? "Nevermind. _Il aura du vin_," I ordered for Jake.

"_Quel type de vin_?" the waiter asked.

"What kind, Jake?"

"Um…I don't know, any kind," he answered, shrugging.

"_Tout type de vin sera bien, merci_," I ordered.

"_Très bien, merci. Je serai bientôt de retour avec vos boissons_," he said, and walked away to the kitchen after setting the bread and sauce at our table.

"What did you say and what did he say?" Jacob asked. I smiled.

"I said that any type of wine would be fine, thanks. He said 'alright, thank you. I'll be right back with your drinks,'" I explained.

"Oh. That makes sense," he said again.

"But really, Jake?" I suddenly erupted.

He looked at me wide eyed. "What?"

"You got wine," I accused.

"Yeah, I know. I'm allowed to. I'm twenty-four, remember?" he said, raising his eyebrows at me.

"I know, but Alice and Jasper and not to mention my father will kill you if you get drunk or something," I warned him.

He started laughing.

"What? What's so funny? I'm serious, Jacob!" I said, getting a little annoyed.

"Ness, I can't get drunk even if I tried. Okay, well, maybe if I tried, but let's just say it's _very_ hard for me to get drunk," he said, finally stopping his laughter.

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

"Because my body heat burns off the alcohol quicker than a regular human," he told me quietly. "And I'm not planning on having fifty-two glasses of wine, Ness," he reassured.

I sighed, feeling stupid. I had made such a big deal out of nothing.

"It's okay, Ness. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known," he said, looking straight into my eyes.

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess so, but…you could've told me when you told me to order it so I didn't feel like a complete idiot."

"You're not an idiot, Nessie. And if you ever are an idiot, which seems very unlikely to me, you're my idiot," he said jokingly, smiling beautifully.

I laughed. "And you're mine," I said, lightly hitting his arm.

"I know," he said with no hint of humor, only sincerity.

I smiled at him angelically, sensing the double meaning of the words we had just said. "I love you, Jacob," I whispered.

His deep, chocolate brown eyes seemed to melt. "I love you too, Renesmee."

My heart fluttered. He said my full name, not my nickname, which meant he really did love me, and not like just a friend.

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The rest of our dinner was delicious, and expensive. We had dessert at the end of our dinner, and it was absolutely amazing. It was a soufflé, perfect and elegant looking.

When we got the check, I was lucky Alice gave me enough money. There were fancy looking candies that tasted like mints, and they were really good.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Jacob asked as we walked out the doors to the restaurant.

"Do you want to go to the park? I hear it has a good view of the Eiffel Tower," I suggested.

"How did you 'hear' it had a good view? You've only been here for a few hours," Jacob said.

"I speak French and can hear almost everything. So I hear a lot of things," I explained to him.

"True," Jake said as we headed to the elevator.

After a few minutes, we were back on ground level. We started heading towards the park. When we got there, I was amazed once again. There was a wooden white painted gazebo with candles and flowers. There were benches and two other couples sitting around, hugging and talking and kissing. The gazebo was actually pretty big, big enough that the couples didn't feel invaded upon.

"Come on." I took Jacob's hand and led him to an unoccupied bench, the farthest away from the other couples as possible.

Jacob and I sat down, nearly touching on the bench.

"I hope you know that this is a place for couples..." Jacob trailed quietly.

"I know, but I don't care." We were still holding hands, neither of us bothering to or wanting to let go. I leaned my head against his shoulder, looking straight out across the structure to see the beautiful Eiffel Tower. "It's so beautiful," I admired quietly.

"Yeah, you are," Jacob whispered.

I looked up at him to see him looking down at me. He was smiling a little, his perfect, full lips curving beautifully.

I sat up, facing him. His face was fairly close to mine, only a mere few inches away. God, I wanted to kiss those lips, those perfectly shaped, pinkish red, soft lips…

"Do you like Paris so far?" he asked, voice still quiet.

"Yeah," I breathed, looking away from him.

"Nessie, what's the matter?" he asked with concern.

I smiled half-heartedly. "Nothing," I whispered. I was afraid to look at him again, afraid that my willpower will give out, that I'll kiss him…

He put his hand under my chin, turning my face towards his. Well, I guess that plan didn't work. He looked deep into my eyes, his own worried and caring. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" he muttered in his sexy, deep, husky voice, his hot breath reaching my face. I inhaled involuntarily, breathing in his intoxicating scent. I could feel my eyelids flutter.

Without any warning whatsoever, even to myself, I leaned forward and kissed him, kissed him passionately. My arms wrapped around his neck, holding him tight, trying to keep him there, though I knew that if he really tried he could escape from my grasp. I could tell he was shocked at first, very shocked. But after about a second he relaxed, his arms twisting around my waist. He kissed me back, our lips moving together in a way I could never imagine. Our eyes were closed, not seeing anything but the invisible passion we were emitting.

After several more seconds, Jacob broke us apart, though we were still very close, our foreheads touching, the tips of our noses brushing. Our breathing was pretty heavy, we were both gasping for breath.

A few seconds later, Jacob spoke. "Ness…we can't…" he murmured.

I looked into his smoldering, deep brown eyes that were filled with love. Reluctantly, I whispered back, "I know."

Suddenly his lips were on mine again, and I could tell that there wasn't going to be any stopping this time. Or at least until stopping was necessary. Our lips moved urgently against one another's, like we had little time left to enjoy each other's presence. I didn't understand the feeling, but then again, I wasn't exactly coherent at the moment. I only thought about Jacob. About the way my lips molded to his and his to mine, how his warm hands on my back made me shiver involuntarily in pleasure.

Without even thinking about it, I parted my lips and ran my tongue across his bottom lip. I felt his lips freeze for a moment, and instantly regretted my impulsive decision. I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me, mildly shocked. Our lips were still touching, brushing against each other's. I heard Jacob chuckle huskily against my lips, his left hand reaching up to stroke my cheek. I seemed to melt under his touch.

His hand now caressed my cheek, his lips pressing harder against mine again.

"I. Love. You," Jacob said against my lips, separating the words with gentle but passionate kisses.

My heart fluttered again, just like it had earlier. "I love you too," I told him, my voice filled with admiration.

I brought my face back up to his. This kiss was like the ones before, only this time was more daring. Jacob trailed his tongue along my lips like I had done. In a spontaneous moment, I scooted closer to him on the bench and parted my lips again, my tongue finding his. He froze temporarily again, but then started kissing me once more. He kept his tongue on mine, though carefully, trying not to go too overboard. We are in France, so we might as well French kiss…

After about a minute, we both pulled away to catch our breath. Jacob looked at me in wonder.

"What?" I breathed, grinning.

"How the hell are you such a good kisser?" he panted.

I laughed a little. "I could ask you the same question, Jake."

He grinned, too.

My smile disappeared. "What are we going to do?" I asked fearfully, thinking about Alice and Jasper and, most of all, my parents. I had betrayed them again, ignoring their rules. They were going to be so mad at me and Jacob…

He seemed to know what I was talking about, though I didn't clarify. "I'm not sure," he said.

"Should we just…not tell them? Keep it a secret as long as possible or something?" I asked.

He inhaled and exhaled, thinking. "I think that if they ever find out about it and know that we've been keeping it a secret that they would be even more pissed at us then they're already going to be," he told me, pulling me closer, up against his chest.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe…maybe we should wait until this trip is over, then tell everyone when we get home," I suggested desperately.

"Everyone? No thanks. I'd rather not endure Emmett's 'wittiness', as he so calls it. And why wait until the trip is over? If we're going to tell your parents and Alice and Jasper, why not tell them now?" he asked.

"Because if I tell Alice and Jasper now, then they'll never let us out of their sight. And I kind of like this whole freedom thing. You may be free to do most anything you want, but me?" I shook my head. "And if I told my parents right now, then… Well, you know my dad. He would probably buy a plane ticket out here just to watch us and monitor our thoughts."

"This is true," Jacob said.

"So…we might as well enjoy our kissing freedom for as long as we can…" I said hopefully, but suggestively at the same time.

He chuckled a little bit, but kissed me lightly on the lips, anyway. "You know, you can't get used to this all the time. I know I'd like to, but we can't get used to the kissing. We obviously can't around Alice and Jasper, and especially around your parents, so…" he said almost reluctantly.

"Got it. But we _are_ alone now…"

He sighed and threw his head back in exasperation, exposing his tan neck. I leaned up and kissed his neck and heard his breathing hitch.

When he brought his face back down, he was grinning. "You're going to end up just like your mom, aren't you? Great. We're all doomed," he said, adding drama in his voice.

"What? What are you talking about?" I was confused, having no idea what he was referring to.

"Nevermind," Jacob said quickly.

I kissed his neck again. "Please tell me, Jakey?"

He sighed. "That!"

"'That?'" I asked him.

"Yes, that. You're going to end up being a freaking seducer or something. Then your dad is going to blame me for everything that happens, and…" he trailed.

"A seducer?" I asked, amused.

"Yes."

"Um, if you don't mind, could you explain to me why you think I'm a seducer?" I asked, grinning.

"Well, gee, maybe because you're kissing my neck and calling me Jakey," he said, eyebrows raised at me.

I was still smiling. "That's not seducing. That's romantic persuasion," I said.

He smiled and shook his head. "Yes, Nessie. Romantic persuasion. That's, like, the exact definition of seducing," he told me.

I rolled my eyes, still smirking. "Whatever."

He laughed, kissing the tip of my nose. "You're almost too cute for your own good, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." I kissed his cheek. "Do you think we should go back to the house now?"

"Can we stay…five more minutes?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "Sure. But it's almost twelve, and you know what we promised Jasper and Alice," I reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah. We promised the bloodsuckers we'd be back by midnight or whatever. But I want to enjoy the first part of the day before it gets demolished by shopping," he said as I laughed. "And by the way, where did you…come up with the whole tongue across lips thing? I think that was a little advanced, don't you think?"

I blushed and looked down. "I learned that from two places. So two reasons. The first reason, I live with my parents and Emmett and Rosalie. The second reason…Ryan did that," I said, muttering the Ryan part.

Jacob tensed.

"Trust me. I liked your kisses _much_ better," I assured, kissing his cheek.

He chuckled. "You better," he said teasingly.

Right then my phone rang. It was my dad's ringtone. I gulped.

"Relax, Nessie. Just act like nothing ever happened," Jacob instructed.

I reached for my purse and dug for my phone. I pressed the talk button.

"Hello?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"Hey, Sweetheart. Do you like France so far?" he asked in the voice I was dreading most; suspicion.

"Yeah, I love it. It's beautiful," I replied, trying to act natural as Jacob had said.

"That's good. What's your favorite part?" he asked, his voice still questioning.

"Well, I haven't seen much of it yet, since we just got here a few hours ago. But I like the Eiffel Tower. It's really pretty, especially at night. And I like the restaurant that Alice made reservations at, _Le Jules Verne_, and I also like the park right outside the tower," I babbled. Whoops. Maybe I shouldn't have added the park thing.

As I suspected, my dad saw right through the park. "Really? What do you like about the park?"

"Well, what's not to like? I mean, there's a ton of beautiful flowers and candles and a really pretty gazebo. It's amazing," I said, under pressure.

"Really? That sounds somewhere romantic," Edward said in a hard voice.

"Well, maybe for some people, but I just think it's pretty. I should take a picture of it to send to you. Then you'll see how pretty it is." Stupid nervous babbling!

"No, that's okay. The picture isn't necessary. Who are you with right now?" he demanded.

"J-Jacob…" I said slowly.

"Can I have the phone for a minute?" Jake asked, holding out his hand.

I inhaled. "Yeah, sure." I handed him the phone.

"Edward, can you please stop harassing your daughter?" Jacob said in a frustrated voice.

"I'm not harassing her, I'm simply asking her questions about the trip," my dad growled. I could hear him through the phone.

"Why do you sound suspicious then?" Jake asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe it has to do with the fact that my only daughter is half way across the world in Paris, France, A.K.A perhaps the most romantic city in the world, with an impulsive, instinctive werewolf who imprinted on her," he yelled sarcastically.

"So you don't trust me, I get that. I've known that for a long time. But you should trust your own daughter," Jacob said, raising his voice.

"I do trust Renesmee. It's just…she listens to you far too much for her own good. You're influencing. You seem to have that effect upon her. It kills me to say it, but it's true," Edward told Jake.

"Look, can we continue this conversation another time? I don't know what time it is there, but it's almost midnight here. We promised Alice and Jasper that we would be back by then."

I heard my father sigh. "Fine. I'll probably call first thing in the morning. Goodbye, Jacob. Tell Nessie I said goodbye, too."

"Dad, I can hear you," I said in a low voice.

"Good night, Nessie. I love you," Edward said through the phone.

"Night, Dad. Love you too," I said in the same volume.

Jacob hung up. "You know, it was kind of weird having the phone up to my ear when Edward said 'I love you.' It's like the exact opposite of what I'm used to hearing from him."

I laughed. "Yes, it would be, wouldn't it? Come on, we should get back now." I stood up.

He stood up as I started walking. "Wait, Nessie. One more thing."

I turned around. "What?" I asked curiously.

He walked over to me and placed his hands on either side of my face. He kissed me quickly but passionately. I instantly felt sparks the moment his lips touched mine. It was absolute bliss. "I love you."


	30. Forbidden Love

**A/N: Here's chapter 30. I'm in the process of writing chapter 31, but I don't think I'm very far. But I'm going to my friends' house later, so we'll probably write. A lot. :) **

**And thank you to HermanChick0506 for volunteering to be my future French translator! You're awesome! Thank you! :)**

**Anyway, chapter 30. Thanks for reading and PLEASE review! **

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_**Chapter 30: Forbidden Love**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

Jacob took my hand in his. We started walking back toward the car.

After we both were in the car, I spoke again. "Jake, why are we going back to the house?"

"Um…because we're supposed to…" Jacob said, sounding puzzled. "Why, Ness? What are you getting at?"

"Well, Alice and Jasper wouldn't really know the difference if we were home at midnight or a few hours later… I was thinking we could walk around the city a little bit…" I suggested.

He sighed. "Ness, can we wait until later to go somewhere like that? We can go home and see more of the house or do whatever else you want," he said.

I folded my arms across my chest. "Okay." I was pouting.

He reached over to me and put a finger under my chin and moved my head up to face him. "I promise we'll go to the city or wherever sometime during the next two weeks, alright? Just not tonight," he said.

I sighed, my arms still staying crossed over my stomach.

"Please don't pout, Ness. What will make you stop pouting?" he asked.

"If you kiss me," I muttered.

He chuckled, bringing his face down to mine and kissing me. After about three seconds, he pulled away. "Better?"

I nodded, smiling again.

He chuckled and started the car, starting down the main road and back to the house.

About five minutes later we pulled up to the lone rented house. We had no neighbors, which was convenient for our speed.

Jacob opened his door quickly, running around to my door and opening it for me. He held out his hand, and I took it, laughing a little.

"What's with the sudden gentlemen act?" I asked Jacob, tilting my head.

He shrugged. "Why? I can't help you out of the car?"

I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Jake."

He chuckled and led me up the porch after locking the car. He started to unlock the door, but I stopped him.

"Can we sit out here for a while?" I asked him.

"Oh. Um…sure."

We walked over to the porch swing and sat down.

"This feels like one of those sappy romance movies," Jacob said suddenly, looking straight forward with a slight grin on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"Thank about it Ness. Paris, Eiffel Tower, a silky dress and a suit, candles and flowers, a gazebo, kissing, forbidden love, talking about sneaking away, sitting on a porch swing… The only thing missing is…nevermind," he explained, but coming to an abrupt stop.

"The only thing missing is what?" I questioned.

He sighed. "The…the running away and getting married," he said quietly.

"Oh." I leaned back against the back of the swing and swung my feet up onto the bench. I leaned my head against his arm, twisting my arms through his. "Why is running away and getting married such a bad thing?" I wondered aloud.

"Well, think about it. Think about…all of the little fairy tales and princess stories or whatever. All of those sappy novels about the Renaissance lovers who ran away to get married because they were forbidden to fall in love with each other. They all ran off together, knowing that people would come after them and try to kill them, but they didn't care. They were blinded by love. They knew they couldn't really settle down and live the life they wanted, and they couldn't have anything more than each other. But that seemed to be all either of them ever wanted. All of those stories seem to have horrible endings, though. Both of them getting murdered or committing suicide… It's horrible." He turned to me. "You know, I was supposed to be forbidden to love you. Your family and the Quileutes were worst enemies, natural enemies. The Quileutes and the Cullens had a _very _tense atmosphere going on for a while. About a century. But you pretty much all but cleared up that feud. Just more proof of how amazing you are. But it didn't start out that way, exactly." He sighed. "I guess you'll want to hear the story now, won't you?" I nodded eagerly. "Well, it _really_ started when Bella came along, stumbling onto trouble like always. She falls in love with a vampire and has a werewolf as a best friend. If that doesn't scream danger magnet I don't know what does. Then more vampires started coming after her, and the Cullens kept protecting her. Then the newborn vampire army came. It was the only truce the wolves had ever made with vampires, unless you count the treaty. But…we all had to fight together. To protect Bella. And not to mention each other. We won that battle pretty easily, thanks to Jasper. The only one who got hurt during that was yours truly. But…after that…I took a break from vampires and all the other wolves for a while. I ran away. I figured out that your mom and Edward were getting married, and it almost literally tore me apart inside. The worst part about that was that nobody would let me forget anything. And I couldn't get over Bella then. Either way, I showed up at their wedding, since your mom invited me. She always tried to keep me and Edward from fighting. It pretty much never worked. But even though I knew it would kill me even more, I went to the wedding anyway. It didn't end well. Then, that night, your parents went on their honeymoon. I don't know any details about that, and I really don't want to know any details about that. So, skipping ahead in the story, we find Bella and Edward back in Forks. After their wedding, I stayed in La Push, but I wasn't very social. Then, the day your mom came home, we had a pack meeting. Sam, who was the alpha back then, told us that the Cullens were saying that Bella was sick with some native illness. I didn't believe it. You know me, I'm stubborn. I knew that Bella was planning on turning into a vampire, and I thought that the illness thing was their cover story. But when I went over to the Cullen house, I found out that Bella was, in fact, not a vampire. But she _was_ pregnant. _Very_ pregnant. With none other than you." He kissed the top of my head. "So, I went to tell the pack that Bella wasn't a vampire yet, but instead was pregnant. Don't hold this against them, please, but they thought you would be some sort of mutant killer spawn thing." My mouth dropped open and my eyes narrowed, but Jake continued talking before I could say anything. His voice was much, much quieter than normal. "So, the pack was making a plan to attack all of the Cullens, just to get to you. Sam was the alpha then. We all had to obey him whether we liked it or not. He gave us orders, but I didn't like them. Neither did Seth, by the way. Since I was supposed to be the alpha in the first place, I somehow separated from Sam's pack to go warn the Cullens. Seth came with me, even though I objected it. So, I warned the Cullens about the pack planning an attack. Since I couldn't really go back to La Push without being called a traitor everywhere I turned, I stayed at the Cullens house, along with Seth. Leah eventually joined, too, just to be with Seth. You know, keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Bella was dying. It killed me to see her like that. But no one was affected as much as Edward. I don't think he could be anywhere near as vulnerable as he was then. He wanted Bella to be safe again, to be normal. Not that she ever was. But…he wanted Bella to give you up. But Bella kept fighting for you. Even thought she knew you were killing her—unintentionally—she fought to keep you healthy and strong and, well, living. I still remember the day you were born. I hated that day, but I loved that day, too. That day was the worst day of my life, but also the best day of my life. I regret some of my feelings, some of my actions… They all seem so stupid now." His voice went to barely above a whisper. "After you were born, I thought Bella had died. At the time, I stilled loved Bella like more than a friend. I thought that you had killed her… I was… I was so upset that…that I wanted to…k-kill… I wanted to kill you that day. For killing the girl I used to love. But then, your beautiful, mature, deep, chocolate brown eyes looked at me. I looked into your eyes, and the world seemed to change. My world. It seemed like gravity was meaningless from that point on. That everything, everybody else was meaningless. There was only you. There will only ever be you. I didn't think of you as a monster anymore. I thought of you as my world. You were and are my everything."

I was speechless. Absolutely speechless. What was I to say after a speech like that? Some parts of my heart felt loved, while another part felt understanding, and yet another part felt painful. I was partially wounded. The knowledge of my dad not wanting me…of the pack wanting to kill me…of _Jacob_ wanting to kill me…

I think I had tears in my eyes. I couldn't be sure. I was too numb to feel at the moment.

"Ness?" Jacob questioned, taking me out of my trance, but only a little bit. "Please, say something."

I turned to face him, still a little bit frozen. "I'm not sure whether to kiss you or hit you," I said in a monotone.

"What?" Jacob asked, confused.

"Actually, I think I'll do both," I said, ignoring him. I leaned up and kissed him quickly, crushing my lips to his shortly, then pulled away and slapped him on the cheek. Hard. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I erupted.

"What the hell is wrong with _me_? You just kissed me then smacked me. Are you kidding?" he exclaimed in disbelief, rubbing his face.

"That's not the point! You just said that you used to want to _kill_ me!" I screeched.

"Yeah, keywords there, used to," he shouted. "And at least I told you about it! Edward didn't even want to tell you. Or maybe he was saving that for when you loved me to get you to be pissed off at me. Well, perhaps his plan would've worked."

I raised my eyebrows at him and groaned. "You have to be the most hard to figure out guy on the face of the Earth!" I yelled.

He sighed. "So what? Maybe I am. But that doesn't change anything."

"And I can't believe you thought I was a killer mutant spawn! I had feelings, even if I wasn't born yet," I growled lowly. I got off the bench and started pacing in front of him in frustration. "And I can't believe the whole entire pack wanted to kill me! Along with my own father! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"

"I'm guessing you're mad. Very mad."

"No. Mad is an understatement. I am freaking pissed off beyond belief. Why the hell didn't anyone tell me sooner? This perhaps just ruined my entire French vacation. Thanks a lot, Jake," I ranted, still pacing.

I continued walking the length of the porch while Jacob's eyes followed my every move while he didn't say a single word. After a few minutes of staring, I gave up, stopping directly in front of him.

"What?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"Well…you're _really_ sexy when you're ticked," he said in a low, husky voice.

"Thanks, Jacob. I'm glad my anger makes you happy," I said sarcastically.

He stood up so that I had to look up at him again. "That's not was I was inferring."

I shrugged.

He leaned down and kissed me again, placing his hands on my waist. I wanted to try and stay mad at him, but it just wasn't possible; he was far too irresistible. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me up, closer to his height. I giggled. He pulled away after a few more seconds.

"Renesmee Cullen, you have to understand that I love you. I regret every thought that day before I imprinted on you. That day's thoughts as well as the days before. I didn't know how amazing you were. You are by far the most amazing person I know, have known, and will ever know. You're absolutely astounding. That goes for beauty as well as personality. And not to mention intelligence. You are amazing and beautifully radiant. And I'm so glad that I imprinted on you. I love you."

His words warmed my heart, making it pick up speed as well.

"Jacob Black, I love you more than you could ever know. Then you could ever even imagine. I'm absolutely nothing without you, and I can't be happier when you're with me. You have this effect on me… I don't even know how to explain it. It's like, one direction or the other. Either I'm blissfully happy when I'm with you or my heart is in pain. Sometimes there's a middle ground, but it's not very known yet. Not in this stage of my life. The middle ground used to be there all the time, when I was younger. Of course I was still happy beyond belief when you were with me, but I wasn't blissful yet. But when I hear things like what you told me…about how you used to hate me… Well, you can't even imagine how much that hurt. How much that still hurts. No matter what happens, I need you to love me. No emotion other than love, got it?"

He chuckled softly. "I think I can handle that." He brought his hand up to my face again, caressing my cheek and stroking my cheekbone. "I love you so much, Ness. In everything I feel towards you, there will always be love. There always has been love, except for those few seconds," he told me, kissing my forehead and leaving his lips there for a moment.

Even though I now knew the truth about how Jacob used to feel about me, it gave me hope. Hope for our love, for our most likely short term relationship. It told me that we could be honest to each other. That, no matter the price, we had to share the truth. But you would always find out the truth later. And it would pretty much always be painful. The price for love always has to include pain somewhere. I mean, just look at Romeo and Juliet. They loved each other enough to defy their family's wishes and died, all for love.

I just hoped that mine and Jacob's forbidden love tale doesn't have the same ending as Romeo and Juliet's.

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**A/N: Sorry about the really long paragraph. I know it basically just puts Breaking Dawn into a summary, but... (shrugs) Oh well. :) I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading and please, please, please review!**

**If you review this chapter, I'll send you the first part of chapter 31. Deal? You review, I send. :) Thanks for reading!**


	31. Moonlight

**A/N: I'm sorry I'm posting this chapter so late today. I finished it earlier and I just got finished editing. Sorry if there are any typos. :) I've started writing chapter 32, though. And for those who reviewed, thank you! And if you reviewed anonymously, I'm sorry, but I couldn't send you a chapter preview. And if I did send you a preview, please tell me if you thought that it was a long enough preview. If not, I'll try to make it longer in the future. I hope you don't find parts of this chapter awkward...sorry if you do. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review!**

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_**Chapter 31: Moonlight**_

Renesmee Cullen's POV

I looked at my phone. Three fifty-six in the morning.

Jacob and I were still outside talking and laughing and occasionally kissing. Though none of our conversations were nearly as deep as the first one we had had.

"Jake, it's getting really late. Or, depending on how you look at it, really early. And I'm still in my dress," I said, looking into his glorious, dark mahogany eyes.

He sighed. "Yeah, it is late, isn't it? But it's so beautiful out. You're so beautiful," he said huskily, kissing me again.

I giggled. "But Alice and Jasper will be upset if they find out that we've been sitting out here for three hours," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Fine. We'll go inside. Come on." He stood up and held out his hand to me. I took it.

He unlocked the door and led me inside. The front room was pretty. It had coffee colored walls. The color of coffee after you put some milk in it, to be more exact. It had a big TV and a computer in the corner, and it had a couch with a few chairs in front of the TV. It had a light pine color wood flooring. Overall I thought the room was very pretty.

"We're inside," Jacob said with a smile on his face.

I laughed once. "Yes, but I'm still in my dress. So…I'm going to find my suit case with my regular clothes and go change." I started walking toward where the suitcases were still piled on the floor. I found mine and carried it up the stairs. I heard Jacob following me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, turning towards him.

"Hey, you're not the only one in formal, uncomfortable clothes," he said. He saw my worried expression and added, "Don't worry; I'm going to Alice and Jasper's room to change."

"Oh." When I was up the stairs, I turned right and went to the bedroom I was in before. I closed the door and threw my suit case on the bed closest to me. I unzipped the zipper and started searching for pajamas. When I found them, I put everything else back in the suit case and zipped it shut. I slid off my dress carefully and found the hanger Alice had it on and I slipped the beautiful dress back on the hanger. Then I changed into my pajamas; an old, plain white T-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts above finger tip length.

Right before I was done changing, there was a knock on the door.

"Are you decent?" Jake asked from behind the door.

"Um…no. Not yet. I will be in a few more seconds. Count to three," I instructed, quickly reaching for my shirt.

"One...two...three." He opened the door as I just finished putting my shirt on. I wasn't Alice, but I was pretty close when it came to guessing. "Hey," Jake said from behind me.

I turned around and saw Jacob's amazing bare chest. I reluctantly tore my eyes away from his abs to look at his face.

"Are you trying to torture me?" I accused.

"Um...what?" he asked, completely oblivious once again.

"You're not wearing a shirt!" I exclaimed, pointing to his chest.

"I know. I hardly ever do. I thought you'd be used to it by now," he said.

"I was. But that was _before_ I made out with you," I told him.

He sighed. "Fine. I'll go put on a shirt." He started to turn away, but I caught his arm.

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't like it," I said, blushing.

He turned back around and chuckled, shaking his head. "Wow, Ness."

I smiled. "If you don't mind telling me, why aren't you in a shirt in the first place?"

He shrugged. "It's three in the morning, so I changed into what I wear to bed. That would include no shirt," he explained. Then I realized he was, in fact, wearing what he wore to bed; no shirt and sweats.

I shook my head. "No, I still think you're trying to torture me," I told him jokingly, going over to my bed and picking up my suit case, moving it over by one of the dressers. There were two, and they were a deep, cherry wood. They were very pretty.

"I'm not trying to torture you, Nessie. I said I would go put a shirt on if you wanted me to," he said.

"I was kidding, Jake." I walked back over to my dress that was lying across my bed. I picked it up and walked over to the closet; it was huge. I shouldn't be surprised, knowing Alice, but really? Ignoring my mild shock, I hung the dress up on one of the empty racks and closed the door.

I saw Jake smile at me. "You know, you looked really, really beautiful in that dress."

I smiled back. "Thanks. And you looked really, really handsome in your suit. But you look really, really hot now," I said, walking over to him.

He chuckled. "Thanks. And so do you."

"Are you kidding? I'm in my pajamas," I said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know, so am I," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"I know, but you're shirtless. And hot. And I'm in an old, plain white T-shirt with shorts. How is that in any way hot at all?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

"Three reasons. First reason, you're you, and you're pretty much always hot anymore. Second reason, I like it when you aren't all dressed up sometimes. Then, you're not...you. But when you're dressed in an old T-shirt and shorts, it shows you really don't care about dressing up sometimes, and that's part of what I like about you." He smiled sincerely. "Oh, and the third reason is that you're in short shorts."

I laughed a little and smacked his arm. "Really, Jake?"

He shrugged. "Yup."

I smiled, then yawned.

"Tired much?" Jake asked.

"A little."

"Well, it is three in the morning, so...I think you should go to bed," he said.

"Wait...just _me_?" I demanded.

He sighed. "Fine. Me too."

"Fine. But...before we go to bed...can we go back outside for a little bit?" I asked hopefully.

He exhaled. "Fine." He took my hand and led me to the French doors, unlocking them and swinging them open.

"Oh my God," I breathed.

The view was absolutely amazing. There were tons of trees and hills...it was so beautiful. I looked up at the sky, seeing the big, white, luminescent full moon shining in the sky. It was a clear night; there were very few clouds misting across the sky. I could see some of the stars, twinkling, bordering the moon. Everything was so beautiful, amazing.

"Come here," Jacob said, pulling my arm towards the direction he was heading.

I turned my head away from the sky and saw where he was leading us. It was a hammock. It was really the only thing that was outside except some flowers, but I was perfectly content with it. The hammock was lying in a perfect position to see the moon and the stars. The balcony had become my new favorite place.

Jacob and I laid down on the hammock, my back against his chest. I was looking out at the trees and hills again.

"Do you think that's where Alice and Jasper went hunting?" I asked Jake.

I felt him shrug. "Maybe, maybe not. But if it is, and they're not that far away, it means that Jasper probably felt and or feels our emotions, told Alice, and the little pixie vamp is coming back. That's basically all code for 'we're screwed.'"

I laughed, then sighed. "What if they do find out? What do you think they would do? Do you think Alice would side with us if somehow my dad found out? I mean, she was so eager for us to dance at my birthday party. Maybe...maybe she wants us to be together."

"I can't be sure. I think maybe Alice would side with is if, God forbid, anything happen. But I also don't think she'll refrain from yelling at us if she gets in trouble because of us," he told me.

"Do you think we should just forget everything ever happened?" I suggested quietly.

Jacob was silent for about a minute. Then, he finally spoke. "What?"

"Do you think it would be better if we just pretended nothing ever happened? I'd hate to do that, trust me, but... What if when we get back home we accidently think about it? My dad would go psycho. Then he would probably break your nose again. Or maybe your arm this time. Either way… Maybe it would be better to just try and forget."

"Renesmee, do you know how impossible it will be for me to forget this? Even if I try, I won't be able to."

I sighed. "Me too. But we may have to." I yawned again, stretching as I did so.

Jacob kissed the top of my head and stroked my cheek. "Go to sleep, Ness. Don't worry about anything. We'll...we'll find a way through this," he whispered.

"I'm not going to sleep until you kiss me," I said stubbornly.

He chuckled. "I thought you wanted to forget about it?"

"I never said I _wanted_ to forget about it," I told him.

He sighed, grinning a little. I turned slightly toward him as he placed his scorching lips on mine. I could never get used to the feeling of his lips on mine; it was all too wonderful. I put one of my arms around his neck and my other hand on his bare back, pulling him closer to me before he pulled away. I didn't want him to pull away. Ever. His shirtless chest pressed against mine, making butterflies in my stomach. But this time the butterflies weren't nervous, they flew from desire. I moved my hand that was on his back and brought it instead to his muscular, defined chest. I traced the warm plains of his chest, feeling their slight up and down movement as he breathed.

_He's so amazing and beautiful. How can he be mine?_

Caught up in our kiss, I wasn't thinking when I quickly turned over and was on top of him, instead of on our sides like before. Jacob's lips slowed for a minute, trying to decide on what was too far.

I heard him sigh. "Ness…I...I don't really think that was...appropriate," he said, almost reluctant.

I rolled back on my side. "I'm sorry, Jake. I wasn't...I wasn't thinking clearly. I won't do it again. Or I'll try not to..." I rethought.

He chuckled. "I don't really mind it, but it will be _very_ hard not to think about when we get back home if you keep doing that."

I blushed, feeling the heat in my cheeks. "Sorry, Jacob."

"That's fine. You really should go to sleep now. I can tell you're tired," he said.

"So what, you _aren't_ tired?" I questioned.

"No, not really."

I sighed. "Fine. I'll go to sleep. If you kiss me one more time," I said, grinning at him and kissing his cheek.

"That's what you said two minutes ago," he argued. I kept looking desperately at him. "You're going to get me killed, you know that?"

Despite his words, he brought his lips back down to mine and kissed me tenderly. I trailed my hand along his chest again, and heard him chuckle once as I did so. I felt him trailing his hand down my spine and I shivered involuntarily, but in pleasure.

I brought my hand that was still around his neck, holding him close to me down to his arm, tracing the length of his arm down to his wrist and feeling the muscles there. All the while we were kissing, our lips moving with each other's in perfect synchronization.

After about another minute, we both pulled away, trying to catch our breath.

"You know, you have a _very_ nice chest," I told him, grinning.

He shook his head, smiling. "Go to sleep, Renesmee."

I tried to do as I was told, but his heat, his breathing, and his heartbeat distracted me.

I knew that he knew I was awake, but he didn't talk to me, probably in hopes of me going to sleep quicker.

I kept staring straight out into the sky, seeing the moon and the stars hovering there. I fell asleep in Jacob's warm arms, perfectly content as we laid there in the moonlight.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please, please please review! If you leave a signed review, I'll send you a preview of chapter 32 (And I'll make it longer this time). :) So please please please review! I'll try to post chapter 32 later tomorrow, and I'm really, really sorry if I don't. Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!**


	32. Secrets Revealed, Secrets Kept

**A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to write and edit this chapter. Anyway, I hope you like it. Please review! (Oh, and sorry if you found some of the dialogue awkward…) Thanks for reading!**

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_**Chapter 32: Secrets Revealed, Secrets Kept**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

Gray, blue light shone through the window above the French doors, making me squint at the sudden brightness.

_Why am I inside?_ I thought to myself, rubbing my eyes and sitting up.

I looked over and saw the digital clock on the nightstand. It read 10:43 a.m. I kicked back the covers on the bed I was in, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

I walked over to the dresser I had put my suitcase by and searched for clothes to change into. When I had chosen an outfit with jeans and a purple, low-cut T-shirt, I brought my clothes into the bathroom to change into after I took a shower in case Jacob came back into the room.

When I was done taking my shower I got dressed and went downstairs. I chose to let my hair air dry, since I probably wasn't going to go anywhere until Alice and Jasper got back from hunting. I heard the TV from the front room and followed the noise. I saw Jacob laying on the couch and watching TV.

I sat on the floor by his head.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Jacob greeted, kissing the top of my head.

"Morning. What are you watching?" I asked, looking at the TV screen above me. From what was showing, it looked like some detective show or something.

"I'm watching this show called 'Bones.' I'm not really paying attention to it though," he told me.

"Oh. So, has my dad called?" I asked dreadfully.

"I don't know. If he called, he probably called your cell phone," he said.

I ran upstairs at full speed, going back to my room to get my cell phone. I then dashed back to the living room, checking my phone for a missed call.

"Yeah, he called," I said to Jacob. He sat up on the couch and I sat on his lap.

"Call him back. He's probably paranoid beyond belief," Jacob suggested.

"Alright," I breathed. I dialed my dad's cell phone number and hit 'send', already nervous.

He pick up on the first ring. "Renesmee..." he growled in an intimidating voice.

"What?" I asked in a small voice.

"Why didn't you answer your phone when I called you the first time?" he asked, trying to keep calm.

"Because I was still asleep."

"What time did you go to bed?"

"One in the morning," I lied. I thought it would be better to tell him earlier than it actually was, knowing he would question why I was up for an extra four hours if I said the real time.

"And you slept over eight hours? I called you at eight this morning," he scrutinized.

"Yeah. I was tired. Some people actually sleep, you know," I said sarcastically.

"So what time _did_ you wake up?" he questioned, ignoring my comment.

"About ten thirty."

"I know you're lying," Edward said suspiciously.

"About what exactly?" I asked, trying not to sound nervous.

"About what time you went to bed. You've never slept over eight hours at a time," he said skeptically. "So what time did you really go to bed?"

I sighed in reluctant defeat. "Around five," I said quietly.

I could hear the strain in his voice to keep calm. "Why were you up until five, Renesmee? What were you doing? Were Jasper and Alice there?"

"I was up talking to Jacob. And Alice and Jasper are still hunting. They should be back soon, though," I said in a rush.

"So you were alone with Jacob all night? And you were awake?" Edward asked, but there was no question in his voice.

"Yeah," I whispered.

"And all you did was talk?"

"Of course," I lied, my voice an octave higher than normal. Damn conscience!

When my father spoke, there was more pain in his voice than I had ever heard before. "Quit lying to me, Renesmee."

I took a deep, calming breath. Or at least half calming. "I'm not lying, Daddy. I talked with Jacob."

"Renesmee, please, _please_ tell me you're not breaking me and your mother's rules again. Please tell me you aren't kissing that _mutt_," he snarled through the phone.

"Jacob's not a mutt, Dad," I said to him in a monotone, not acknowledging his other comments.

"Edward, calm down," I heard my mom say from the other line. "Hi, Nessie," she greeted, apparently taking the phone from my dad.

"Hi, Mom. Why is Dad mad?" I asked innocently. I was _so_ glad that Edward couldn't read minds through the phone.

"He's overreacting. But there's no reason to, right?"

"Right." Lying to my dad was one thing, but lying to my mom was another. My mom always believed me, always trusted me, mostly because she had no other way to get the truth except from my father. And, especially after what Jacob told me about her, how she was willing to die to give me life... Well, it hurt even more now to lie to her. But right now it was necessary. The worst part was that she believed me so easily... It all made me feel worse.

"See, Edward? She's responsible, and so is Jacob, though you like to deny it," she said to Edward. "So, Ness, how do you like France so far?"

"I love it. It's really pretty. I've only really seen the Eiffel Tower, but...that seemed beautiful enough for everything," I answered, for once seeming to be truthful.

"That's great, Sweetie. Well, I'll let you get back to your French vacation now. Bye bye, Nessie. I love you. And Jake, since I know you can hear me, bye," she said.

"Bye, Mom. I love you, too."

"See ya, Bells," Jacob said into the phone as I hung up.

When I was sure the phone was hung up, I leaned toward Jacob and kissed him quickly.

He smiled. "Thanks. But what did I do to deserve that?" he teased.

"That was your good morning kiss," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and burrowing my head in his neck, breathing in his intoxicating scent.

He chuckled. "Well, thank you. But I don't think we should kiss for a while... Alice and Jasper are supposed to be on their way home."

I sighed. "Alright. That means I have to sit on the couch, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It would probably be a good idea, Ness. Because if they came in and saw us like this, they would jump to conclusions. Those conclusions would probably be right, but..." He shrugged.

I sighed, getting off his lap and sitting on the couch next to him.

"There," I said, a little grumpy.

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't want you to sit on my lap. I'm just thinking about the length of our lives," he said.

"True."

* * *

About an hour later, the front door flew open, revealing an excited Alice.

"We're back!" she exclaimed, running to sit in the seat next to me.

"Hi, Aunt Alice," I greeted, smiling.

"Hey, Alice," Jake said shortly.

"Hi. So, how was your dinner last night?" she asked with enthusiasm.

"It was really, really good. Thanks, Alice, Jasper," I told her.

"No problem. So, what did you do after dinner?" she asked anticipation with a mix of suspicion lingering in her soprano voice.

"We went to the park," I replied, looking at the TV screen.

"That's great! Isn't it romantic? Don't you think it's romantic?"

"Um...yeah, I guess, but―"

"So what did you two do at the park?" Alice asked of me.

"We talked," I said a little too quickly. Jake was right, I was a bad liar.

"Really? Just talked? No romance at all?" she said, unsure of my answer. Well, if I were her I wouldn't trust my answer either.

"Did Edward call you?" Jacob asked from beside me.

"No," Alice said.

"Are you sure, Alice?" he asked.

She sighed. "He said to keep an eye on you two. He said that you were being suspicious. But just to let you two know, if you were romantic with each other, I'm on your side. I'm on wedding planning withdrawal," she said.

"Alice, you _do_ know that Edward's rules won't change even a little from the fourteen thing, right?" Jacob said.

She sighed again. "Yes. And he tells you the proposal rules, too. Eighteen."

"Whoa, why are we talking about weddings and proposing?" I asked in a little bit of shock.

"Nevermind, Nessie," Alice said quickly. "I'm just getting ahead of myself."

"By the way, I know that both of you are lying," Jasper said, sitting on the chair to the right of Alice.

My face paled, my eyes staring daggers at Jasper.

"About what?" Alice asked in a hard voice. "About the kissing?"

I quickly looked to Jake. He looked like he was warring with himself, not sure of what to do. He nodded slightly.

"Fine. Me and Jake...we kissed again. But please Alice, please don't tell my parents," I begged.

"Don't worry, Nessie. I'm not _that_ cold. And do you know how long I've been waiting for this?" she exclaimed.

"Waiting for what, exactly?" I was almost afraid to ask the question.

"For you two to love each other! To ignore your dad for once in your life!" she said dramatically.

"Crazy pixie," Jacob whispered in my ear. I had to stifle laughter.

Alice glared at him. Then she looked back to me. "So, how much have you two kissed?" She had a mischievous smile plastered on her face.

"I don't know..." I said, blushing and remembering. How many times had his warm lips touched mine? I couldn't remember how many times, but I could remember the _way_ he kissed me... How _long_ he kissed me...

"A lot," Jasper answered, grimacing at most likely my feelings.

Alice's eyes widened, and it felt like she was my best friend asking me for details about me kissing Jacob, not my aunt.

"Oh my God. Was there tongue?"

"Goodbye," Jasper and Jacob both said in unison, standing up and leaving the room.

I'm fairly certain that all the blood in my body went to my cheeks.

"Well, was there?" she asked in anticipation.

"Um...what would the right answer be?"

"Well, to your dad, no. To me...yes!" she said eagerly.

"Well, then...yes," I answered quietly, looking at the ground.

She looked at me skeptically. "Really, Nessie? Or are you just saying that?"

"Do you think I would say that knowing that my dad can read your mind? Do you really think I would make that up?" I said in exasperation.

Her tiny mouth dropped open and her hazel eyes widened to a circumference I thought was impossible. "OH MY GOD! You French kissed!" she exclaimed, bouncing in her seat and smiling as wide as possible.

If possible, my face got redder. "Well...a little bit..." I said slowly.

"Did you go past kissing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"What do you mean past kissing?" I questioned, though I had a pretty good idea what she meant. _How could she think I'd do..._that_?_

"You know...did you―"

"Hell no!" I interrupted her.

She looked relieved. "Good. I know I wouldn't live to plan your wedding if you did."

"Okay, what's with all the wedding talk?"

"Far in the future, Sweetie, far in the future. And if you don't mind my prying...how far did you go?" she asked, interested in my answer.

I groaned. "God, Alice. What the hell do you think we did?" I exploded.

"I don't know. I mean, I can't see you. And think about it, you have lived in a house with just your parents for six years, and that's enough to convert any person's brain," she said, shuddering.

I frowned. "Yeah. When I was two I thought they were killing each other."

Alice laughed. "Anyway, your answer? What did you do?"

I sighed. "We kissed. We talked. We sat on the front porch for a while, then we came inside. I changed into my pajamas in my room, and Jacob changed in your room. Then we went out on our balcony and laid on the hammock together. I fell asleep. That's all."

"Did you wake up on the hammock?"

"No. Jacob must have carried me back inside or something, why?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Good. You didn't sleep together," she said, almost relieved. "Your dad won't completely kill me..."

"My dad will not kill you. If he kills anyone, it'll be Jake. Which scares me," I said.

"True. But I'll try to keep my thoughts from Edward as long as I can, alright?" Alice pledged.

I hugged her. "Thanks, Alice."

As long as Alice was on our side, my dad would have a tougher time on forbidding me to see Jacob, like I know he's probably going to. We actually had some hope.

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**A/N: I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! And if you leave a signed review, I'll send you a preview of chapter 33 (once I start writing it, which should be right after I post this chapter). (: Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! And even if your review is anonymous, I'd love to hear what you think of my story! Thanks for reading! Please, please, please review! I'll send you a preview if you do! (:**


	33. Mistake

**A/N: I'm sooooooooo sorry it took me so long to post this. I just finished writing it about an hour ago, and then I had to edit it, so...  
My week was really busy, not that it's an excuse for not writing... :/ But my week was pretty fun. :) I read a book (it was awesome), spent the night at my friend's house for her sleepover, played Guitar Hero, played American Idol, watched Bones, wrote songs, cleaned my room (which I'm not all that excited about), played celebrity charades, and a ton more things that I can't think of at the moment. :) Anyway, I'm really sorry, again, that it took me so long to post. I hope this chapter makes up for it... :) (And sorry if the end of this chapter is awkward... :) You know me, I write some pretty awkward stuff, so...) :) I hope you like this chapter!**

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_**Chapter 33: Mistake**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

"I'm going to go find Jacob," I told Alice, getting off the couch.

"Alright. And just to let you know, I don't care if you're all lovey-dovey with each other," she said, smirking mischievously.

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Alice. For keeping the secret, for taking us on the trip, everything. You're the best aunt ever. Just don't tell Rose I said that."

She smiled brightly. "Thanks, Nessie!"

I walked up the stairs and to my room, finding Jacob sitting at the computer desk.

"Hey, Jake," I said, walking over to him.

"Hey. So Alice is fine with the whole romance thing?" he questioned.

"Yeah. Did you hear?"

"Yeah. And by the way, I feel so bad for you," he sympathized.

"Um…why?" I asked, confused.

"For having to live through six years of your parents 'killing' each other," he said, chuckling.

I smacked his arm. "Shut up," I mumbled.

He turned the computer off and stood up, putting his hand under my chin and kissing me. "I love you, Nessie."

I smiled up at him. "I love you, too, Jake."

"And having Alice and Jasper know is a good thing, it's one less thing to worry about," he told me.

"I know, but…I felt so bad lying to my parents. Especially my mom," I said guiltily.

He hugged me, wrapping his warm arms around my shoulders. I embraced him back, burying my head in his chest.

"It's alright, Nessie. We'll get through this. I don't know how yet, but we'll get through this."

"I know…but I just can't help but think…about the outcome," I said, tears forming in my eyes. "What if my dad sends you away? I can't live without you, Jacob. It's impossible."

"Shhh, Ness. It'll be okay. I won't ever leave you just because your father says so. He won't get me away _that_ easily," Jacob promised.

I leaned away to look at his beautiful face. "You're so amazing," I whispered.

He smiled. "I don't know about _amazing_, but…"

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Yes, amazing."

"You're amazing, too. You're the most amazing person I've ever met." He brought his hand up to my cheek, caressing it in his hand.

There were three quick knocks at the door, and then it opened. Alice peeked her head in. "Hey. Sorry to interrupt the love fest, but…we haven't been shopping yet…and it's supposed to be cloudy the rest of the day…" She smiled hopefully.

Jacob and I took a step away from each other, his hand dropping from my face.

"Um…yeah…sure, we can go. I'll be down in a few seconds," I said.

She smiled widely. "Thanks!" She dashed back into the hall and down the stairs.

I walked over to the side table where I had set my purse last night and got my wallet out of it, though I knew Alice would pay for everything.

"I need another purse. This one is way too formal," I muttered to Jake.

"Well, if you tell Alice that, I'm sure she'll buy you more than one," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's a really good thing that your family is rich."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

We went downstairs then, into the living room where Alice and Jasper were waiting. I picked up my cell phone that was still sitting on the couch and walked over to Alice.

"Can you hold my phone and my wallet until I get another purse, please?" I asked her.

"Of course, Nessie. We'll buy you a purse first. I promise," she said, standing up and walking to the front door.

"Here comes the torture," Jacob whispered. I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"You'll live. I promise," I said over dramatically.

He smiled at me and kissed the top of my head, his lips lingering longer than usual.

"Yup, Edward is going to kill you when he finds out," Alice let out in a breath.

Jasper smiled and put his arm around her waist, opening the front door and running to the car.

I rolled my eyes as Jake and I followed them outside. We climbed into the backseat next to each other without bothering to put our seatbelts on. I looked out the window as Jasper backed the car out of the driveway, seeing the foliage rush past. I leaned my head against the head rest, staring at the ceiling of the car.

About fifteen minutes later we were stopped in a parking spot right outside a boutique. Alice squealed in excitement.

Alice shot out of the car and into the store, barely containing a human speed. Jasper and I got out reasonably, and Jake stayed in the car a while longer than necessary. I stuck my head back into the car.

"Jake, come on, it won't be _that_ bad," I said, trying to persuade him out of the car.

"You're right. It'll be worse," he mumbled, finally stepping out of the car and walking slowly to the side walk next to me. We meandered toward the door that Alice and Jasper had disappeared through.

Alice saw me and dashed over, holding several purses. "Which ones do you like?" she asked, peppy.

She was holding eight designer purses, probably at least a hundred dollars each. One of them was silk, with shiny, gray leather lining and handles. The silk was multicolored, having mostly shades of red, pink, and purple. It was still pretty formal. Another one was a black, plain fabric with different color squares on the outside. This one had a different closing than the other one; this one was to be tied together while the other one had a zipper. The third purse I analyzed was crème in color, having two pockets on the exterior and a zipper pocket in the back. It seemed kind of plain. Another one was the same model as the first one, only in blue and brown plaid. There was another one in pink and brown plaid. Yet another purse Alice held was red fabric, decorated with black leather. It had a zipper pocket in the front, like some of the others. Another purse had purple leather on the outside and a silk inside, with separate pockets in the interior. The last one had light brown, stiff leather lining bordering a patchy fabric. The fabric was almost like a quilt design, with different designs on each square.

I thought that they were all cool and really pretty, but apparently I took too long analyzing on which one I wanted. And to be honest, I had no idea which one that would be.

"Nevermind. I'll just get you all of them," Alice said impatiently, running away to look at more clothes and accessories.

"Um...Alice, you know that those purses alone will be around a thousand dollars, right?" I said in disbelief.

She looked to me from across the store and nodded, immediately turning her attention back to the silky shirts she was looking at.

Jacob looked at me. "Does she have any price limit? Ever?"

"Nope, don't think so," I answered. I took his arm and led him over to a rack of dresses, much like the one I wore last night.

"Do you _really_ need more dresses?" Jacob asked skeptically.

"Relax, it's just a way to pass the time, since Alice will probably be here another hour, at least," I told him.

He groaned. I turned toward him, a slight grin on my face. "Jake, I don't want to be here, either. But if you quit moping, time goes by faster. Trust me. I've been shopping with Alice far more times than you have."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on the top of my head. I giggled a little bit.

"You're right. Time does seem to go by faster," he whispered huskily.

"Jacob, Nessie!" Alice called quietly from the other side of the boutique. Jacob took his arms from around my waist, sighing, but I slid my hand into his before we started walking.

We walked over to where Alice called us from, seeing Jasper smiling and trying to hold back laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked, even though I could just read his mind.

Alice was smiling too, only humorous instead of happy, like Jasper.

"We found some clothes you might like, Ness," Alice said in a fake, innocent voice. I already didn't like this, knowing that it would probably lead to embarrassment. For both me and Jake, knowing Alice and Jasper. Now, if it were Emmett, I would have run far, far away by now.

I narrowed my eyes at both of them. "What?" I almost growled.

Alice took my wrist opposite of my hand that Jacob was still holding and pulled me through some clothing racks. Jacob was towed along, of course, and Jasper was walking beside me.

When we got to the destination that Alice was heading to, my eyes narrowed even more.

Alice was trying not to laugh even harder now.

I glared at her. "Really? Lingerie?"

On the racks that Alice and Jasper had led me and Jacob to, there was a ton of skimpy, lacy, silky, French lingerie. I swear some of them were nonexistent.

"Well, you'll probably need it now," Alice joked, still almost pursing her lips to keep from laughing.

Her comment just made me glare even more.

"Come on, Nessie. You know Jacob will appreciate it," Jasper said. His usual calm voice had humor and laughter in it.

If I thought my eyes were narrowed before, now they were slits. My eyes were practically closed. But in my frustration, there was _a lot_ of embarrassment, as I anticipated. I felt my cheeks flush a deep, cherry red. I looked down to the floor, trying to hide my humiliation.

"I hate you both," I snarled under my breath.

By now, Alice and Jasper were laughing hysterically, probably at the sight of mine and Jacob's reactions. I'm not sure if I wanted to see Jacob's face right now.

After a few more seconds of neither of us responding directly, Jasper spoke again. He is no longer my favorite uncle.

"Oh, come on, Jacob. You know you want to see your imprint in lingerie. Especially French and skimpy, right?" he chided in amusement.

I could hear the loathing in Jacob's voice as he spoke. "Shut the hell up, Jasper," he growled lowly.

"He didn't deny it," I heard Alice choke out between laughs.

"No, I don't. Happy?" Jacob screeched lowly.

Jacob didn't want to see me in lingerie? Well, I guess that's a good thing. For now. But why does it bother me so much? Would he ever want me like that? What if he never did? Well, it would make my dad very pleased. Or maybe he just said that for the sake of Alice and Jasper to stop laughing. Maybe he _does_ want me. Is that a good or bad thing? Wait, do _I_ want _him_?

_Damn it! You should _not_ be thinking about this!_ I scolded myself mentally.

That was when I remembered that I was holding Jacob's hand. That means that he heard everything I just thought. _Everything_. Oh, sh—

"Oh. My. God," Jacob muttered in surprise. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't turn to face him. Instead I pulled my hand away from his.

I could feel my cheeks burn up even hotter, if that were even possible.

Oh, crap. Stupid mistake.

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**A/N: I hope you liked it! I'll try to post again soon, but I haven't really started writing, yet. But I'll write the preview when I'm done posting. :) But if you leave a signed review, I'll send you a preview of chapter 34. :) So PLEASE REVIEW! :) Thanks for reading! :)**


	34. Humiliation

**A/N: Hey! Sorry it took me a few days to post again. But I'm back now! :) I'll try to post more often from now on, though. But just a fair warning, I probably won't post anything tomorrow because I haven't started writing anything for chapter 35 yet, and I won't be in wifi zone, but...I'll still try to type. :) But I'll try to type a preview for chapter 35 before I leave wifi. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter 34! :)**

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_**Chapter 34: Humiliation**_

**_Renesmee Cullen's POV_**

The amusement on Alice and Jasper's face disappeared, turning into confusion. The frustration on my face turned to flat out embarrassment and regret. The probable embarrassment on Jacob's face turned into disbelief, frozen shock.

It seemed as though time stopped. It seemed like everything was glued in place, like everyone was a statue. I couldn't hear the soft music that had seconds ago been playing throughout the venue. The only thing I could hear was my heart thumping nervously in my chest. The only thing I could feel was the heat in my cheeks, _his_ eyes boring into me. The only thing I could see was Alice and Jasper's figures, frozen solid in confusion.

It was times like these that I wanted to fade to black, disappear without a soul knowing. I needed to get away from here, away from the embarrassment, away from the confusion, the resentment, the shock, the regret…

"Nessie, what's wrong?" Through my vacant gaze, I saw Alice's lips move, forming her words that sounded to be a million miles away. I couldn't respond.

I felt like I was being hypnotized. Like I was in a trance, not myself. How could I have thought what I had just thought? It couldn't be possible. I wouldn't let it be possible. But I guess I couldn't change anything, not now. The only reasonable thing to have come out of this mess was that there were no witnesses. No witnesses to my idiocy. I hadn't spoken my thoughts, only Jacob had heard them. My vampire family never believed him, anyway, so what was the harm?

But Jacob had heard my thoughts. He was the most important person in this situation. The thoughts were about him, about what he thought. About what he thought about me. How could I live through this? How could I live knowing that he knew my thoughts, my feelings about him? Well, I guess I have been in this situation once before already, thanks to my wonderful father. When I had to tell Jacob how I felt about him, how I _feel_ about him…

I wonder if he still feels that way about me. Probably not. I probably just ruined everything.

His voice seemed to make me come back to life, escaping my comatose-like trance.

"Renesmee…"

One word. One word was all it took for me to break. One word in _his_ voice. His beautiful, dreamlike voice that made my heart grow every time he spoke. And he said my name, of all things.

I couldn't let him see any more humiliation cloud my features. I wouldn't let him. I wouldn't let him see the tears cascade down my face, the tears that were already forming in my eyes.

So I ran away.

I turned around, careful not to look anywhere near him, and ran at a barely contained human speed out the door and into the crowd of shoppers and tourists that were passing on the sidewalk. Some looked at me like I was crazy, and I knew at that point that I probably was. I just kept shoving my way through them, anyway.

While I was doing this, I heard some of the people yell French profanities at me, but I could really care less at the moment. If I did care, I would've yelled back at them. But I could barely see at the present moment, so I probably couldn't speak any louder than a whisper, anyway. How intimidating.

So I just kept running.

It wasn't long before I heard footsteps coming after me. From the amount of shadows and light around me, I could tell that the sun was out, which meant no Alice or Jasper. That means it could only be one person.

Jacob.

Shock, nervousness, and, if possible, more humiliation shot through me. I heard him call my name a few times, but when he realized that it had no effect, he stopped. I just kept dashing through the streets, barely containing a human pace; Jacob followed me the whole time.

After what seemed like hours, I wasn't getting tired in any way, so I just kept running through the crowds until I got to a less crowded area. There was still a ton of people, but the walkways were easier to navigate.

Which meant he was a bit more likely to catch up to me.

_Crap,_ I thought. Oh well. He would eventually catch up to me anyway. But the more time I had the better.

But before he caught me, I knew I needed some time to think. By myself.

So, I traveled back into the rush of pedestrian traffic, heading towards another store. I knew Jacob would still follow me into the store, despite his hatred of shopping, but the store wasn't my final destination.

When I entered the glass doors, I headed straight to the back, searching for the place where I could most likely lose Jacob.

Then I saw it; the sign for restrooms.

I ran a little bit faster, leaving the girl at the check-out with a weird, almost scared look on her face. But right now I was beyond caring.

I quickly ran into the girls' bathroom and locked the door, stopping suddenly. The abrupt ceasing of movement almost made me dizzy, making me sink down to the floor. Yes, the floor was probably really gross, but I knew I would get tons of new outfits today if this one was no longer Alice worthy.

I finally heard Jacob's footsteps come to a stop right outside the door. Then I heard him walk away.

Wait, walk away? _Away_?

As he really going to give up that easily?

Apparently so.

Either way, I wasn't going to leave the safety of the bathroom for a little while, and even when I did, I wasn't going to walk right out the front door.

Looking around, I saw a back door leading out of the bathroom. It was probably locked from the outside so creepy, stalker people didn't get in. I guessed that it led to an alley, but I couldn't be sure.

Then I decided that after a few more minutes of no Jacob, I was going to leave through the back door, and then go…somewhere that Alice, Jasper, and or Jacob won't find me for a while. Or until I want to be found. I would probably go off into the woods somewhere, hunt for food. The good thing was that I didn't have my cell phone, so they couldn't track me.

For the next few minutes, I thought. I thought about what I had projected to Jacob at the boutique. Did I really mean that? Did I really want Jacob? Only a week or so ago, I swore I didn't want him at all, but that was before I made out with him in France. But…I don't want him, do I? If I did, then there was no way I could hide my thoughts forever. I can't want him, though. It…it seemed wrong. I mean…my dad would totally kill both of us if he even found out that we wanted each other. And that was the thing. I wasn't even sure he wanted me.

Then I came to a conclusion.

I didn't want Jacob.

Not now. Not for a while. That is, if I wanted to live my full life's length.

I don't even think that I really wanted Jacob like that. I think I just panicked.

Right before I went back outside, I took a deep breath. Then I stood up, walking to the other side of the bathroom and cautiously put my hand on the door handle, twisting it slowly and carefully.

Then I walked outside.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw nothing, shutting the door.

Then a pair of arms grabbed me around the waist. Warm arms. Warm, muscular arms. Damn it.

"Renesmee…" he almost growled.

I was about in tears again. "What?" I whispered so quietly that it was a wonder that he could even hear me.

He didn't say anything. No words really had to be said. I made a mistake. I was humiliated.

Now I had to plan my escape.

There were a few trashcans along the brick walls, and then a fence at one end that I could easily jump over. That was my goal.

Without any kind of warning at all, I bolted toward the other side of the alley, towards the tall, wire fence. I got about five feet before he lunged at me. We lost our balance from Jacob's force, both of us collapsing to the ground. I never thought things could get any more awkward between us, but then I realized that he was lying on top of me. Talk about awkward.

But I couldn't move.

"Renesmee," he snarled lowly, but there was no anger in his voice.

"Is that all you can say?" I breathed.

"No," he said. I saw the ghost of a smile lingering on his perfect lips.

We were both silent for about a minute, unmoving. Our breathing was a bit heavy.

Then, he stood up. He held out his hand to help me up, all the while saying nothing. I reluctantly let him help me up, not looking in his eyes.

Then, finally, after minutes of awkward silence, he spoke.

"Renesmee, what the hell is going on?" Well, not exactly the commentary I was hoping for.

"What do you mean?" I asked softly.

"You know damn well what I mean. In the store. I know you didn't mean to let me hear that, but…I did anyway. What the hell was that about, Renesmee?" he demanded.

I felt tears in my eyes, but I tried as hard as I could to keep the contained. I couldn't start crying right now.

"I don't know what that was about, Jacob," I answered truthfully.

He sighed. There was silence for a moment, but then he spoke again. "Look at me, Renesmee."

I kept my head facing towards the ground, looking anywhere but at him. I couldn't look at him.

"Please."

His voice was so strained and hurt that I had to do as he said. I hesitantly turned my head towards him, looking into his warm, brown eyes. They were full of love, compassion, and still a little bit of confusion. They were the eyes that I loved.

But then, I completely lost control.

The tears that I had worked so hard to restrain come cascading down my face like waterfalls, making dark, wets lines visible on my cheeks. He immediately reached out to me, crushing me to his muscular chest. His arms enclosed around me, keeping me safe and warm. He brought one of his hands up to my cheek, continuously wiping my tears away. Before long, I felt him leading me to stair steps leading out the door of one of the buildings. He sat down, still holding me all the while.

After a few more minutes of my weeping, the sobs started to slow, allowing me to get some of my non-tear-filled vision back.

Then, Jacob spoke. "Ness, what's the matter? Why were you crying?" he asked with concern.

I couldn't answer him. I didn't know the answer, anyway. I guess I was crying because of all the stress. Or because I was so stupid. Either way, that wasn't the whole reason. Maybe I was sobbing my eyes out because Jake seemed like he was upset with me. I just didn't know.

So that's what I told him. "I don't know, Jacob." My voice was hoarse and low, shocking me. Well, I guess I had just been crying for the past ten minutes or so.

He started to say something, but then he rethought. "Okay," he said, accepting my answer. "But are you alright now?"

"Yeah. I think so, anyway," I replied. "And Jake?" I asked shyly.

"What, Ness?"

"I'm sorry."

He kissed the top of my head. "For what exactly?"

"I don't know. There are too many things I'm sorry for."

"What could you possibly be sorry for, Renesmee?" he questioned.

"Well, for starts, my dad is probably going to kill you when we get home. Or if not kill, hurt. A lot. And second…" I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for what I thought at the store. I…I didn't…don't…mean it. And I honestly have no idea why I even thought that. So, I'm sorry, Jacob. I'm sorry for a lot more, but…" I shrugged. "Just sorry."

"Look at me." He repeated his words from earlier.

I twisted around in his arms so I could see his beautiful face. Before I knew it, his lips were pressed against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, twisting my hands in his ear-length hair. God, I love Jacob.

This kiss was exactly like the ones at the park, only much, much longer. And that was so far. Jacob made it seem like he was nowhere near finished kissing me, and I didn't want him to stop kissing me, either.

A few minutes later, we reluctantly broke apart to catch our breath. We were both breathing heavily. _Very _heavily. Then I buried my head in his neck, hugging him.

"I love you, Jacob," I whispered in his ear. I felt his arms tighten around me.

"I love you more."

"Oh, really?" I said, a smile taking over my mouth.

He leaned down and kissed my neck. I felt his hot breath on my skin, making me shiver involuntarily in pleasure. "Yes, really."

I smiled even wider.

Two good things and two bad things came out of today so far.

The good things: I was no longer humiliated and I got to make out with Jacob even more.

The bad things: I was going to have to explain to Alice and Jasper why I ran away and be embarrassed again. Plus, Alice was going to be totally pissed at us for cutting into her shopping time.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review! I'll try and type up a preview of chapter 35, like I said, and sent it to signed reviewers! :) Thanks for reading! I'll try to post as soon as I can! :)**


	35. Rain

**A/N: Hey! Thanks for everyone that reviewed! I hope you liked the preview! :) And I also hope you like the rest of this chapter... :) Thanks for reading! **_**

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**__**Chapter 35: Rain**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

"I think we should go find Alice and Jasper now," Jacob said against my neck.

I sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

We had just been kissing each other for the past half an hour. Alice and Jasper were probably going crazy by now.

We both stood up off the star step we were still sitting on.

"So…do we jump over the fence?" I asked, a little stupidly. _What other option was there?_

"Yeah, Ness. I don't really think I'm allowed in through the girls' bathroom," he said teasingly.

I laughed. "The fence it is." We both ran near full speed at the fence, jumping across and immediately stopping before people saw us running as fast as we just were.

We started walking down the sidewalk again, heading back towards the boutique we left Alice and Jasper in. I didn't know for sure if they were still there or if they came looking for us, but I knew that we were a pretty far distance away. This was going to be a long walk.

"So…" Jacob started, and I could tell he was going to say more, but then he hesitated. "Nevermind."

I looked at him skeptically. Then I read his mind. It was no help at all. I guess he was too used to my dad reading his mind.

"What?" I asked, feeling vulnerable.

He sighed. "I said nothing."

"No, you said nevermind. Now, what?" I ordered of him.

"Nothing. Just forget about it," he said.

"Please, Jakey? Please tell me?" I begged, using my puppy dog face.

I saw him close his eyes. Good. My plan was working.

He exhaled in defeat. "Fine. I was going to ask…do you really want me?" He had a small grin on his face.

Now I sighed. Only in frustration. I shouldn't have asked. "Really, Jacob?"

"Well, you wanted to know. And if you don't want me, what harm does it do? Why not tell me? I mean, this _does_ have to do with me, too," he tried to reason.

"You know, it's sort of annoying when you try to get into my mind, you know that?" I said, a bit annoyed.

"You know, it's sort of annoying when you actually _do_ get into my mind. I mean, do you know how many people can read my mind? The whole entire pack, plus you and your dad. Do you know how annoying that can get? You only have one person reading your mind. I have no privacy in my life at all," he ranted.

"I guess you're right," I agreed.

"So, are you going to answer the question?" he prompted.

I groaned. "Do I have to?" I saw the hopeful smile on his face and looked at the ground, beginning to be embarrassed again. "Fine. I…I guess I just overreacted. I thought that I wanted you, but…I didn't. I don't. I told you. Now are you happy?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yes. At least you told me."

"Wait…at least? Nevermind. I don't want you to tell me. I don't want any more drama. But can you tell me something else?" I asked a bit shyly.

"I don't know. It depends on what it is. So, what?"

"Tell me the truth. Do you want to see me in lingerie, or did you just say that because Alice and Jasper were there?" I asked, smirking.

He coughed nervously, looking down at the sidewalk and putting his hands into his jeans' pockets. I could have sworn I saw him blush a little. "W-well…"

"Answer the question, Jacob," I said in a sing-song voice. I was now smiling, a bit smug.

"B-but…I…Y-you…A-Alice had no right to say that…I-I…" he stuttered.

I laughed. "Okay. I think that's enough of an answer for me," I said, still grinning.

"Hey! No, I didn't answer…" he defended.

"Okay. Then answer. And if you don't answer, you know what I'll suspect your answer to be."

"But… Fine. I…I admit that…that I wouldn't oppose t-to seeing you…in…l-lingerie… But, that doesn't mean I want to…" he trailed off.

"That you want to what?" I prompted. My smile had faded a bit.

"That I want to see you in lingerie," he improvised.

I swallowed loudly. "What were you really going to say, Jacob?"

"I think you know what I was going to say, Renesmee," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do. And…nevermind," I said quickly. Damn it, why couldn't I just keep my freaking mouth shut?

"I'm not even going to ask this time," he said. _Thank God._

All of the sudden Jacob's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello?"

I could hear my dad's voice on the other end of the line.

"How could you lose my daughter, dog?" he growled.

"That's not the problem right now. How the hell did you get my cell phone number? I specifically _didn't _give you my number so you couldn't annoy the hell out of me," Jacob yelled back.

"That's not the problem, mutt! Where the hell is my daughter?" he screamed.

"Relax, bloodsucker. She's right here," Jacob said, annoyed.

"Hi, Dad," I said for proof, since I knew my dad wouldn't believe Jacob.

"Hello, Nessie. Why don't you have your cell phone? I tried to call you, but Alice answered. She said you weren't there, and I asked her what was going on, but she said she had no idea. So what's going on?" Edward demanded.

"Dad, calm down. It's fine now, okay?" I tried to get him to let the subject drop.

"No, not okay. You're my daughter, and I want to know what happened," he argued stubbornly.

I sighed and held my hand out for the phone. I think the people around us already thought that I was crazy, talking to no one, since Jacob wasn't answering. Jacob handed me the phone.

"Fine. Alice said something and it embarrassed me. So I ran away. I know, teenage girl hormones, right?" I improvised.

"Even though I can't read your mind, I know you're not telling me the whole story," he said suspiciously.

I groaned. "Why don't you ever trust me?"

"I do trust you, Sweetie," he tried to convince.

"Oh, really? When was the last time I told you something that you didn't question?" I challenged.

"Okay, look. I'm your father, I have a right to question my daughter when I have a hunch about what she's saying when she's half way across the world with a werewolf that she's made-out with when her aunt and uncle aren't there," he snarled quickly.

"Dad, slow down, alright?"

"See? You didn't deny that you were making-out with that _dog_!" he snarled.

"Dad, I haven't made-out with Jacob," I fibbed. Actually, that wasn't just a fib. That was a total and complete lie. In fact, just about ten minutes ago, we were making-out happily. Wow, I was lying _so_ much right now.

"Sure," he mumbled. Then his voice changed. It was now pain-filled. _Crap._Now the guilt sets in. "Renesmee, please, just tell me why you ran away from the store. Tell me the truth. The real truth. _Please_."

I took a shaky breath and swallowed unintentionally. "Fine."

_Ness! _Jacob forced into my mind in an alerted manner.

_Relax, Jake. I'm not going to tell him everything, just some things,_ I thought back.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"So?" Edward prompted.

"Well, when we were at the boutique, Alice and Jasper were off looking at some clothes and Jake and I were standing around being bored. I was looking at some dresses, and Jake was just standing around. Then Alice came up to me with a ton of purses that she was going to get me, and then she ran off again. We were still bored out of our minds. Then Alice called me and Jacob back to where she and Jasper were, and they were laughing. Well, trying not to, but still, in a way, laughing. Then Alice said something…something embarrassing. She said that since me and Jacob kissed at the house, that I was going to need what she was going to show me. Then she led me and Jake back to the lingerie. Alice and Jasper were laughing their heads off, but I was really humiliated and so was Jacob. Then Jasper said something and I got really embarrassed and I ran. Jake came after me, and eventually he caught me. That's what happened," I explained. _Or part of what happened,_ I thought.

"Are you sure? That's all?" my father asked in a stern voice.

"Yes," I said shortly.

"Alright. I'm going to have to talk to Alice and Jasper," he said, his voice hard.

"Okay. But don't be too mean, Dad. Please? I mean, they did take me and Jake on this trip, and so far it's been awesome," I said.

"That's the problem. They took you on the trip, and now they last both of you. And you're alone together."

"Not technically. There are tons of people around." I smirked.

"Look, smart-ass—" I cut him off.

"Hey! Don't call me a smart-ass!" I exclaimed. I saw Jacob holding back laughter.

"Renesmee! Language!" he exclaimed.

I sighed. "Sorry," I mumbled, not apologetic at all.

"Goodbye, Renesmee." I heard the phone click, and it went silent.

"Jerk," I muttered, hanging up, too. I handed the phone back to Jacob, and he was laughing a little. "What?" I questioned.

"I never knew you were such a bad girl," he said, grinning.

"What?" I repeated.

"You cussed when you were on the phone with your dad," he elaborated.

"Oh. So?"

He shrugged. "I don't remember you ever cussing out loud in front of you dad before," he said, still smiling.

"Yeah, but he still yelled at me," I answered him.

"But you didn't care. I mean, really, what other seven year old cusses in front of their dad? Let alone cussing _to_ their dad," he asked.

"None that I know. Of course, I don't think I know any seven year olds… But no other seven year olds look like their seventeen, either," I gently argued.

"But still, it makes you hotter," he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

I chuckled a bit. "So that's what this whole thing was about?" I inquired.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Wow, Jake."

He kissed the top of my head.

We were silent for a few minutes, just walking back to the boutique Alice and Jasper were at. I just hoped that they were still there.

"I hate walking so slow," I complained.

"Same here," Jacob said.

At least the sun wasn't blaring out from behind the clouds. Actually, gray clouds were drifting past all over in the sky, showing no blue at all.

I leaned my head against Jacob's shoulder, and he put his arm around my waist.

"What are we going to tell Alice and Jasper when we find them?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I think you should just tell them that you were embarrassed and needed to get away from them," Jacob suggested.

"Yeah, I guess I could tell them that…but they're different from my dad. They actually know what's going on," I said, warring with myself internally.

"That's true...but do you want to tell them that you thought you wanted me?" he said with a slight grin.

"True. Alright, I'll just tell them that I was embarrassed. Happy?" I lightly smacked his arm.

He chuckled. "I want you to be happy. What do you want to tell them?"

"I'll just tell them that I was embarrassed," I repeated. "That's what I want to tell them. I don't want Alice to interrogate me again," I said, smiling a little.

"True."

At that moment, it began to rain.

"Damn it," I mumbled, looking down at my shirt.

"Hot," Jacob hissed jokingly, smiling.

"Shut up," I mumbled.

"And I hope you know I meant the cussing, not the shirt," he clarified.

"Sure you did," I teased, grinning at him. "But at least my shirt isn't white this time." Nope, this time my shirt was purple. _Thank God._

"That's a good thing for you," he muttered. I heard a bit of humor in his voice.

"Wow. You know, if my dad heard that, he would have threatened you and broken your arm by now," I said.

"I know. That's why I said it; he's not here."

I giggled a bit as we kept walking.

About fifteen minutes later, I still didn't recognize anything from around the boutique. Also about fifteen minutes, it didn't just rain, it poured.

I groaned aloud. By now, everyone was hurrying into their cars or other stores to keep dry. Me and Jake were pretty much the only ones walking on the sidewalk, but there were several cars driving down the street, occasionally spraying water onto me and Jacob.

"How about since we've already walked this far, we just go back to the house and ditch Alice and Jasper until they come home?" I suggested to Jake.

He chuckled a bit. "Sounds good to me," he said.

"Oh my gosh, really? I was actually joking, but…" I said with a bit of surprise.

He laughed. "Yes, really, Nessie."

So, we started towards the house instead of the store. We followed our scents to know where to go, and we found the right trail pretty soon. But it would still take a while to get to the house.

Finally, after about twenty minutes of walking through a downpour, we showed up at the house. We walked in—Alice gave Jacob a key—and collapsed on the couch. I knew it wasn't the best idea, seeming as the couch was expensive leather, but I was tired of walking.

"My hair probably looks like crap, doesn't it?" I asked of Jake in a monotone.

"No. It looks fine to me," he said, kissing me quickly.

"Just to let you know, you have mud on your arms," I told him. I probably did too, from where the cars had sprayed us with dirty water.

He sighed. "Oh well. I was going to go take a shower, anyway."

"I wanted to take a shower, too…"

Before we knew it, we were racing up the stairs trying to get to the shower first. He could've beat me, but I think he let me win.

He groaned as I was laughing. We were both in the room that we shared.

"I'll go to Alice and Jasper's room," he droned.

I smiled and walked into the bathroom. I undressed and got into the shower, staying in a little longer than necessary, since the hot water felt good on my cold and clammy, rain-soaked skin.

After about ten minutes, I got out of the shower and dried off, wrapping the warm towel around me. Then I brushed my hair and my teeth, walking back into the main room to get dressed. But before I could pick out my clothes, there was a knock at the door. It was Jake.

"Are you dressed?" he asked from behind the wood door.

"Does a towel count?" I joked.

I heard him chuckle. "Sure. Can I come in? I forgot my clothes…"

"Oh. Um, sure," I answered.

He turned the doorknob and came in.

I think I stopped breathing. He. Was. So. Freaking. Sexy.

"Oh. My. God," I breathed.

He was wearing a towel around his waist and obviously had no shirt on. His muscles and abs, as usual, were beautiful. But they were even more glorious now. There were water droplets running down his defined chest, making him look like the hottest male model in the world. He could probably do a photo shoot right now. And then there was his hair. It looked glossy from the water, even hotter than when he was in the rain. He looked perfect. He _was_ perfect.

He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"You are so damn oblivious!" I exclaimed.

He looked shocked. "What?" he repeated.

"You are too freaking hot for your own good!"

"No, that would be _you_." He looked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you kidding?"

"About what? I am so confused right now that barely know where I am. You're…you're so…beautiful, Nessie. Actually, beautiful isn't enough. Hell, sexy isn't enough. You need a new word…" he trailed, still looking at me.

I took a subconscious step towards him. Then another, then another…

I stopped when I realized that I was right in front of him.

He reached up and stroked my cheek with his thumb. Then he walked past me, to his suit case. He picked it up and walked out the door with a small smile on his face.

"Get dressed."

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! And if you review, I'll send you a preview! (That is, if your review is signed). **

**And I have a question: Should I make this story into one long book, or should I make a sequel? I don't know what to do! Please help! Lol. :) I mean, I'm already over 100,000 words, and that's about how long the other Twilight books are, so... *shrugs* I just don't know! :/**

**Anyway, I'll try to post chapter 36 as soon as I can! And just to let you all know, over the next few weeks, I might not post all that frequently, because I have to go back to school next week. But I'll still try to type and write, as long as I don't get yelled at by teachers. :) **

**Thanks again for reading! :)**


	36. Flashbacks

**A/N: Hey! Sorry I haven't posted for a little while. :( But I hope you like this chapter! ****

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**_**Chapter 36: Flashbacks**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

I watched him walked out the door, a blank expression on my face. I blinked rapidly a few times, and then turned around slowly, heading for my suit case. I vacantly picked out my outfit, a dark blue shirt with lace sewed around the bottom and elbow length sleeves. I also got out a pair of jeans.

When I was dressed, I slowly walked downstairs and sat down on the couch. Just mere seconds later, Jacob joined me. I stayed silent. There was nothing I could think to say.

So, I just vacantly stared at the wall. I don't think I blinked once. Jacob was looking at me the whole time.

After a few minutes of this, Jacob waved a hand in front of my face. I blinked a few times and then looked at him, my vacant gaze still present.

"Nessie…?" Jacob said when I didn't speak for several seconds.

"Huh?" I said in a bored tone.

"Are you okay?" he asked, tilting his head.

I nodded once.

"Then…what's the matter?"

"Nothing." My voice was flat.

"Then…can you say more than one word?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, I can," I spoke.

He groaned. "Will you actually talk? Seriously, what's the matter?"

"I told you, nothing."

"Well, I don't believe that. Did I piss you off or something?" he asked.

"No."

"Well…if nothing's wrong, then can you act like a normal person?" he said, a little jokingly.

"Okay. You mean, you want me to act like a normal seventeen year old with her boyfriend? Because that might go past a PG-13 rating," I teased.

He chuckled. "There's my Nessie."

I smiled.

"But…if you don't mind me asking…why were you acting like Jasper there for a minute?" He smiled a bit.

I gave him a sour smile back. "I don't know," I said. "I just felt like it."

"Okay…" he said in a weird voice.

I laughed a bit. "Fine. Would you rather me act like Alice?"

"Um…no thanks. Nessie is fine." He kissed me suddenly, but it didn't last long.

I whimpered playfully. He chuckled and kissed me again. This time lasted _much _longer than the last time.

While we were kissing, I had crawled onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

Suddenly, Jacob's phone rang again. We broke apart and he answered it, his breathing heavy.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, Jake!" I heard Seth's eager voice on the other line.

Jacob sighed, but smiled. "Hey, Seth. Just to let you know, you need to work on your timing."

"Wait, why?" Seth asked, bewildered.

"Nevermind, kid. What's up?" he asked, leaning against the back of the couch. I laid my head against his chest, since I was still sitting in his lap.

"Um...I called you to see how France is so far! Everybody is wondering, and you haven't been a wolf since before you left, so..." Seth rambled.

Jacob chuckled a little bit. "France is great, Seth."

"Really? Awesome! Is it as pretty as everyone says?" Seth asked excitedly.

"Yes. It's beautiful. But not the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Jake answered, looking at me. I'm fairly certain I blushed.

"Oh, really? Because... Oh. You're talking about Nessie, aren't you?" Seth caught on.

"Yeah, kid. A little slow there, but..." Jacob smiled.

"Um, yeah." Seth sounded embarrassed. But after this afternoon, nowhere near to how embarrassed I had been. "Hey, Jake, is Nessie there?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Hi, Seth," I said.

"Hey, Nessie!" Seth greeted.

"How are things in Forks?" I asked.

"Good. Probably not as good as France, but good," Seth answered, a little less peppy than usual.

"Why just good?" I asked, suspicious.

"Well...Jake, please stay calm when I say this, but...there's been another attack."

"What happened?" Jacob breathed.

"Well, Alex got a couple broken bones, but that's pretty minor compared to...compared to Quil," Seth said quietly.

Alex was another young werewolf, one that I had only met once. From when I met him, he seemed really nice. He didn't seem like much of a fighter, though, so I wasn't that surprised to hear that he got hurt.

But Quil?

"How bad is it?" Jacob asked, alerted.

"Let's just say that it's worse than when you got hurt," Seth mumbled.

"First time or second time?" Jacob asked with concern.

"First. With Victoria and the newborns."

Jacob froze.

"Jacob, how were you hurt? Who's Victoria?" I asked in a rushed tone.

"Victoria is dead. There's no need to worry about her. And...when I got hurt, the whole right side of my body was broken..." Jacob's gaze was vacant and his voice seemed like it was a million miles away.

"What happened to Quil, Seth?" I questioned.

"A-almost every bone in his body was broken. Two newborns came at him at once, and... Well, you can probably guess the rest."

Jacob nodded. I guess he was still in a trance, still in shock.

"Jake?" I tried to get him out of his reverie.

No answer.

"Um...hey Seth, can I call you back later?" I said, worried over Jake.

"Yeah. Of course. I'll talk to you later, Nessie. But just to let you know, Quil will be fine," Seth assured.

"Thanks, Seth. Bye."

"Bye." We both hung up the phone and I placed Jacob's phone on the side table.

"Jake." Nothing. "Jacob?" Still nothing.

I sighed and kissed him shortly. He blinked a few times.

"Jacob? Are you okay?" I asked slowly.

He shook his head, clearing it. "Yeah. Sorry, I just... Nevermind. I don't know."

"Are you sure you're okay?" I made sure. "Why were you so...out of it?"

"I'm fine, Ness. It's just that...Quil is one of my best friends, and...well, he'll have to explain everything to Claire and...well, he'll have to lie about how he feels to her. Physically. And I didn't have to do that. And trust me, I didn't. I think the whole state of Washington heard me cussing that day... But believe me, Ness, okay? I'm fine. I'm just...just a little shocked, that's all."

"A little? Jacob, you went into, like, a trance or something. You showed no sign of ever moving again," I said, raising my eyebrows.

He kissed my cheek. "Sorry, Ness."

"It's fine, Jake," I said. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

He smiled. "Your wish is my command," he said, taking my hand in his and kissing it.

I giggled. "What's with the sudden gentleman act?" I asked him.

"It's sudden?"

I sighed. "Fine. Sudden prince gentleman act," I clarified.

"What?" Jacob asked.

"You know, like when princes meet girls they're all like 'nice to meet you' and kiss the girls' hand and everything, like when they flirt and everything," I explained.

"Oh, so you think I just did that to flirt?" he asked, a crooked grin on his face.

"No. Just making a comparison," I said, smiling into his chest.

He wrapped his arms around me. "Okay." He nuzzled his head between my head and my neck. "Love you."

My smile stayed on my face. "Love you, too. And Jake, don't worry about Quil. Seth said that he'll be fine."

He grinned into my neck, kissing it. "Thanks, Nessie."

"Can I ask you a question?" I inquired.

"What kind of question?"

"Well, questions. About the past," I elaborated.

"Sure, go ahead," he granted.

"Okay, well, who exactly was Victoria? And how did you get hurt?" I started slowly.

"Victoria was...well, there's no other way to describe it. She was evil," he said.

"Why? What did she do?"

"Well, for starters, she tried to kill the pack, your vampire family, and your parents, and me, and Charlie, and, well, anyone else who got in her way. She wasn't one of the 'vegetarian' vampires, Ness," he told me.

"Why did she try to kill all of you?" I asked, puzzled.

"Well, when your mom and dad first met, or actually a few months or so after, your dad killed Victoria's mate, James."

"Why did he kill him?" I questioned.

"Because James tried to kill your mom. He nearly did, too. She had to go to the hospital. Of course, when she was human, what didn't she have to go to the hospital for..." he trailed. Then he got back to the point. "Anyway, Victoria wanted to get revenge. So, she made an army. An army of newborn vampires. That's another thing that she was evil for. She turned dozens of helpless humans into bloodsucking demons. And that wasn't meant as anything against your family, but they are what they are. But at least they made an effort to change. Victoria didn't. Hell, she didn't even control her newborns. She just let them run loose around the city, feasting on whatever, or, should I say, whoever they could find. They never cleaned up the mess, either. But eventually, Victoria and her army of demons came out of the shadows and fought. They fought your family and the pack, including me. There were about twenty of them, and I believe we killed them all. Of course, I wasn't really there for all of it..."

"So how did you get hurt?" I asked.

"Well, when we were fighting—or rather when we were done fighting—there was a fire burning up the leeches in the middle of the clearing we were in; we thought we had all the newborns. But then, Leah spotted one and went after it. We were all still in our wolf forms. She was getting beat, so I went over to help her. Perhaps the stupidest mistake of my life. Anyway, long story short is, the newborn crushed me, it hurt like hell, and I broke pretty much all the bones in the right side of my body," he explained.

"Wow. Ouch," I said, wincing a little.

"Tell me about it," he mumbled. "But I'm fine now."

"Promise?" I grinned playfully.

He chuckled a little. "Promise."

"And can I ask you another question?" My voice was shy.

"Sure," he answered.

"How...how romantically involved were you with my mom?"

Any trace of a smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a little bit of embarrassment. "Well...I don't really feel...comfortable talking about...those kind of things..." he said slowly, nervous.

"Oh my God. Did you...?" I trailed, already disgusted.

"What? No! No, I've never done..._that_...especially with Bella. Do you think your dad would've let me live if I had?" he said hastily.

I calmed down a bit. "No, I guess he wouldn't. And as far as I can tell, you're not a ghost, so..." I mentally cleared my head. "But will you answer the question, please, Jake?"

He sighed. "We kissed."

"How many times?" I asked, already fearing the answer.

"Twice. Well, twice on the lips, anyway," he said, looking anywhere but my eyes.

Hmmm. Not as bad as I thought. But I still needed to know more. "How and how long?"

"What is this, an interrogation room?" he exclaimed.

I played along. "Just answer the question, Mr. Black." I had a slight grin plastered on my face.

"Um...well, the first time I guess didn't really count, since she punched me afterwards and broke her hand, but..." I shook my head. I still couldn't believe she could have been that stupid.

"And the main question answer?"

He sighed. "The first time was about eight seconds or so. The second time...well, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe...maybe a minute. Maybe half of that..." he said, nervousness in his voice. And let me tell you, he should be nervous...

"_What_? You kissed my mom for _that long_?" I exploded.

"Hey, we were young and naïve! And it was before you were even born!" he defended.

"Was it before my parents were married?" I interrogated.

"Of course! I'm not that horrible!"

"_That_?"

"Well, I kissed her when they were engaged, but—"

"_You kissed my mom when she was engaged to my dad_?" I screamed. It was so loud, I wondered if the whole country of France had heard it.

"O-only because she asked me to!" he argued. "Please, Nessie, just calm down. It's in the past, and I don't like Bella like that anymore. I like _you_ like that," he said sweetly, kissing me for a second.

I allowed myself to calm down, my heartbeat decelerating back to its normal speed that was already unnaturally fast.

"Are you calmed down now?" Jacob asked me.

I nodded. I took a deep breath and turned to face him, looking him in the eye.

I got ready to ask Jacob the question that was perhaps the most important question he will ever be asked in his life. Or, the most important question asked by me, anyway.

"Okay, Jake. I have another question to ask you. Last one, I promise. But just know that I'll tell my mom the answer," I said, almost blackmailing him.

He looked at me cautiously, probably seeing the dangerous glint in my eye. "What?" he asked suspiciously.

"Who's a better kisser? Me or my mom?"

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**A/N: Lolz Jake's in trouble now... :) **

**Anyway, I'll type a preview and send it to signed reviewers! So, please review! **

**And I've decided that I'm going to write a sequel to "Solstice". But this story isn't going to end in the next few chapters. Or, I don't think it is, anyway... :/ Either way, I'm going to make a sequel! Yea! :) I'm pretty sure I already know what it's going to be called, (it's actually what I was thinking about calling this story). You can still tell me what you think the sequel should be called. I love hearing from you! :) Thanks for reading! I'll try to update as soon as I can! **


	37. Childish

**A/N: *Sheepish smile* Heh heh... So... Sorry I haven't updated for, like, 20 days... :| _REALLY _sorry about that... But I had a semi okay reason for not updating and or writing, (Since I just finished editing)... Okay, so, school started. Never fun. And the worst part is that I'm in three advanced classes so I have to get a ton more homework than other people... *grumbles*. I mean, really, for the past week I've had homework in every class... it's insane! UGH! Sorry...excuse my rant... :/**

**Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! And, same as always, if you leave a signed review, I'll send you a preview of chapter 38. (When I start writing it...) lol. :) So, I'll try to write and or type during my free time so I can update as soon as possible. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review! (Even if you don't have an account). :D

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**_**Chapter 37: Childish**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

"Oh…um…" he stuttered.

I tried not to laugh.

"Well, you're a better kisser, of course…" he said, chuckling nervously.

I smiled and laughed. "Okay. But I'm going to tell my mom that."

"Actually, no, you can't tell your mom that. I mean, I know she knows that we kissed once, but she thinks that I haven't kissed you as much as I've kissed her. So…" he reasoned.

I sighed. He was right. Dang it. "Fine. Then…I'll tell her when I'm actually 'allowed' to date you."

"But…" He exhaled in exasperation. "Fine. Be that way."

I smiled and giggled a little. "Well, if she's really over you, then she won't care," I said.

"True," he agreed.

I then heard the doorknob to the front door turn angrily, and saw an unnaturally ticked Alice storm through the door.

"Where did you run off to? _Why_ did you run off?" she erupted.

_Crap._ An angry Alice is never good.

"Well...um..." I started, not looking towards her.

"Oh. I get it. It was all part of your plan, right? Your plan to run off, have Jacob chase you, and then you make-out with each other?" Alice guessed, only sounding pretty sure of her theory.

"No! I didn't—"

She cut me off. "Oh my God! Have you been here the whole time? What the hell did you guys do?" she exploded.

"Nothing! I swear, Alice!" I shouted over her shrill voice.

She took a deep, unneeded breath. "I'm sorry. I overreacted."

"Ya think?" Jacob muttered.

She glared at him.

I groaned. "I hate this. Everybody overreacts way too damn much!" I shrieked.

Alice had a hurt look on her face, but I didn't regret my words. They _did_ overreact too much.

"But Nessie, that's only because we're trying to look out for you," Jasper said, trying to calm me down with his gift.

"Well stop! I don't need to be looked after 24/7. I can take care of myself. And Jasper, quit trying to calm me down," I said in an annoyingly calm but angry voice. I felt anger engulf me again.

"But Sweetie, you're only seven," Alice said desperately.

"Yeah, I know I'm seven, but I look seventeen, do I not?"

Jacob looked at me with a semi-dreamy smile on his face. "Yes, yes you do…"

Alice stepped up and slapped him. Jacob swung his head back with her force, and then lifted his hand up to his face. His face was pretty red from the blood rushing up, but other than that, I'm fairly certain that he was fine.

"Alice? What the hell?" Jacob shouted.

"Don't say that about my niece!" Alice yelled back.

I sighed in exasperation. "I'm technically not your niece, Alice," I said logically.

Alice looked upset again. Then she put on a poker face. "Fine. Then I won't treat you like my niece."

"And how will that make anything different?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You have to buy your own stuff. And cook for yourself. And take yourself places on your own," she said, though I knew she hated saying it.

"Fine."

"Fine."

She stormed out of the room, followed closely by Jasper.

"Um...Nessie...?" Jacob said a bit cautiously.

"Yeah?"

"Just a guess here, but she seems pretty mad," he said a bit sarcastically.

I sighed. "I know. But I'm not her real niece. And I'm sick of my family bossing me around all the time. Especially my dad," I told him, rolling my eyes. "They're way too protective."

"Maybe, but they're still your family," Jacob tried to persuade.

"No, technically only my mom and my dad are related to me," I said logically.

He sighed, exasperated. "Renesmee, they treat you like family even if you're not. You should at least respect them."

I groaned. "But they never trust me! They treat me like I'm a child."

"Look, Ness, I know you look way older than you actually are, but you are technically still a child."

Ow. That hurt. I know it probably wasn't intentional, but...I don't know. It just hurt. Hearing _Jacob_ say that I was a child...

Ouch.

I felt a bit of wetness in my eyes, but I was too angry to cry.

I turned toward him so fast, my head felt dizzy.

"Did you _really_ just call me a child? _Really_?" I growled.

He closed his eyes for a second or two, and then opened them again. "I know you don't look like a child, but your actual age proves that you _are_. And, well, sometimes your attitude does, too," he said calmly but sternly. But...he said the wrong thing. It only made me more furious.

But I wasn't going to act even more childish around him. No way.

So, I took a deep breath, stood up, ad started walking away. I didn't know exactly where I was going, but I wasn't going to stay here and be humiliated.

So, I walked slowly up the stairs, not saying a word or looking anywhere but the wall in front of me.

I heard Jacob sigh. "Nessie..."

I kept climbing.

"Nessie! Wait!" He groaned when I didn't respond. "Now _you're_ the one who's overreacting."

I swallowed and turned on the stairs to face him. "Oh well. But do you still think I'm a child? That I'm childish?"

"Well, no offense, but you're sort of acting like a child right now."

"How in any way is that not offensive?" I exploded. I was stopped on the stairs now, reluctantly looking over to Jacob.

He chuckled without humor. "See?"

I took a deep breath and folded my arms across my chest. I wasn't going to let him win, though. I know I love him, but... Well, I wasn't going to feel helpless.

"Okay. So, maybe I am a child. And you're technically dating me. But you're an adult. So, what does that make you, a pedo?" I said with a small, smug smile on my face. The sourness matched my voice.

I could see his jaw tense. "May I remind you that you were the one who kissed me first?" he argued gently.

"Okay, I see how it is. Blame your troubles on a little girl."

"I'm not going to do this, Renesmee," he warned.

"Fine. Then I'm not going to stay here. Bye." I quickly walked down the stairs and out the back door. From there, I ran into the woods behind the house.

Of course, just like when I ran from the store, he was following me. But I decided not to let him chase me until we were in Spain or something. So, reluctantly, I slowly came to a stop. He, of course, caught up to me soon.

"Nessie, that doesn't help the child status," he breathed when he stopped next to me. I wasn't looking at him, though.

I sighed. "But I'm not a child. I'm probably smarter than you," I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, you're a genius. I meant running away," he clarified.

"Then don't make me mad."

"I wasn't trying to make you mad."

"So? It still hurt."

"Well, it wasn't intentional. You should know that. Do you think I would ever try to intentionally hurt you?" he questioned.

"Well, you should have known better. And you can't change anything now. You should have known it would hurt me," I said, my voice breaking a couple times.

He sighed. "Nessie, I'm sorry. So sorry. Really, I am," he apologized. I could tell he meant it. When I looked up, I saw the internal torture in his eyes, saw the pain he felt knowing he hurt me. Even though the topic this time is small, he was still upset by it. "Do you forgive me?"

I kept my face blank for what seemed like minutes when it was probably only a few seconds. Then, I let out the breath I had been holding since he started talking.

"Yes."

Then, the smile that I love spread across his face and he hugged me. I, surprised, wrapped my arms around his neck as well, but not as enthusiastically.

"Come on, Ness. Can we go back home?"

"You can. I'll be back in, like, an hour, okay?"

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"I just want to be by myself for a bit," I said, swinging my arms randomly.

"Um..." I could tell that he was reluctant to let me go, so I read his mind to find out why.

_When Bella went off by herself she almost got killed... I couldn't live if anything like that happened to Nessie..._

"Jake, I'll be fine. I'm not a helpless human," I reminded him.

He sighed. "True, but... Just be careful, please," he said, pleading.

I smiled half-heartedly. "I'll be fine." I reached out and hugged him reassuringly. He held me back.

He took a deep breath, and then forced a smile as he let me go. "Just please be back in an hour or an hour and a half. Please."

I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Whatever you say..."

"Because if you're not back, I _will_ find you..." he said with a semi-joking smirk on his face.

I smiled, taking a step back. "Stalker..." I teased.

He chuckled a little. "Bye." Then, he turned around and started walking back towards the house.

"Bye," I said quietly, knowing he could hear me. Then, I turned back into the trees, walking deeper into the woods.

As I was walking, I thought about…well, random stuff. I thought about how much homework I would have when I got back home… Wow. I think I was going to be buried in homework for at least a week after I get home. Yea.

Deciding not to dwell on the fact that my head would explode in approximately a week, I thought about music. Then, I started to think about bands, and my mind fled to a particular band, my favorite.

The Beatles.

Yes, I know, what technical seven year old—or any seventeen year old, for that matter—listens to the Beatles? And not just that I listen to them, but that I know the majority of the words to pretty much all of their songs, too. It's not what you'd call normal for someone my age. But then again, when have I ever been normal? I don't think I'd ever been called normal in my life.

So, then, with my thoughts focused on the Beatles, I started humming some of their songs. First, I hummed "Help!" Then "Hey Jude," then "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," then "Yesterday," then "When I'm Sixty-Four"…

But then I almost completely stopped thinking when I almost ran into a tree. Even though it would only hurt the tree, I decided to be nice to nature. By that point, I stopped humming and started to pay attention to my surroundings.

I continued to walk through the trees and the foliage, stepping over fallen tree branches and puddles from this afternoon's rain.

When I entered a small clearing, I stopped, standing completely still, appalled by the horrifying image in front of me.

On what used to be green grass, there was a pool of blood. I soon found the source of it.

A human.

One of _them _were crouched over a young girl's limp body, head at her neck. The teenage girl was screaming, probably because of the venom entering her body, though, by the looks of it, the pain wasn't going to last much longer.

It was like my worst nightmare had come to greet me, only this time, I was alone. There was no one here to save me, and I didn't have a chance.

I almost fainted when the girl's weak attempts at a scream were cut off and I heard her heart take its final thud. And to think, all of this happening because of the demon that was hovering over her. The demon that I didn't stand a chance at defeating if that's what it came to.

Ever so slowly, the red eyed, pale, chalky skinned monster dropped the girl's lifeless body carelessly to the ground and turned to face me, seeming to notice me for the first time, though _it_ had to have heard me.

This is it. I'm surely going to die now.

And the worst part—this isn't a dream.


	38. Alternatives

**A/N: Heh...heh heh... Sorry. :'( But I've been really busy with homework and everything. Trust me, I'd much rather write this story and listen to the Beatles than do schoolwork... :/ But anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and I'm sorry I'm posting so late... But I hope you enjoy!**

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**_Chapter 38: Alternatives_**

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

The monster's blood stained lips curved into a smile as it saw me. I was too frozen to say or do anything, so all I could do was think in my comatose state.

Damn. I should've known better than to come walking in the woods alone. But instead it's like I just walked down the long and winding road to death. I should've listened to Jacob. Now I highly doubted if I would ever even see him again.

But...he said that if I wasn't back in about an hour, he would come looking for me. How long had it been since I started walking? Thirty minutes? Forty-five? Well, all I can do now is hope I live that long.

But what if I don't? What if the horrifying hellion standing only a few yards away from me killed me before Jacob got here? What if I would never see his face again?

I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't.

But there was only one problem with my determination.

I had no idea how to accomplish it.

"My, my, my. If it isn't little Renesmee Cullen," he said in his false interested voice. "Of course, you aren't so little anymore."

Just hearing his voice made me shudder. I couldn't respond. I was afraid to.

"Now, Renesmee, there's no reason for you to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to catch up. It has been too long."

With no reply from me, he stepped forward at a normal human pace until he was right in front of me. He looked down at my hand.

"Do you mind?" he asked, holding his hand out. There was no use in answering no, since he would probably do as he pleased, anyway.

Slowly, my hand shaking, I laid my hand on top of his. I winced slightly at his cold touch, though I was used to it.

Oh my God. I still can't believe it's—

He chuckled shortly. "Aro," he interrupted my thought.

I held back a shudder.

After a few more moments, he let go of my hand and took a small step back.

"So, you've fallen for the shape-shifter," he said matter-of-factly.

Finally finding my voice, I answered, "Yes. But I would have ended up with him, anyway, even if I hadn't fallen for him yet."

"Really? And this is because of imprinting? So, that's what you tell yourself? That you would have no other choice but to love the mutt?" he asked, but I couldn't tell if he was truly interested or not.

"Jacob isn't a mutt," I said in a monotone.

"Oh, yes, my apologies. It sort of slipped." He smiled falsely.

"Sure, sure."

"So, you still haven't answered my question," he said curtly.

I sighed, still a bit uptight about talking to Aro at all. "It's irrelevant. I would love him anyway. I know that your kind, including my family, find it utterly repulsive that I like a 'dog', but I love him, and he loves me. That should be all that matters."

"Perhaps, but it doesn't have to be him," he hinted, clasping his hands together in what seemed to be vampire joy.

I took a step back. "What are you talking about?" I eyed him skeptically.

"Well, after our little encounter, I decided to do my research. I went to visit Nahuel and his half-sisters and his father and learned more about your unique kind. I went to visit Nahuel's father a few months back, and it seems that he knows other vampires like himself. Although I do not entirely approve of what he's doing, I'm not going to deny that I think there is some purpose in it. So, what Nahuel's father basically told me is that there are other males of your kind out there in the world. Males that would be better suited for you than the shape-shifter of whom you're currently infatuated. I mean, who knows what kind of offspring you would create with the shape-shifter if you stayed with him? It's unpredictable, and unpredictable is dangerous. Now, if you were to switch over to your own kind, then I think it's safe to bet that your child would be just like you. And I can tell that from your thoughts that your dear father Edward isn't  
pleased with the knowledge that you and…Jacob are going to end up together in the future. Don't you want to make your father happy?"

I was frozen. How could he think that I would give up Jacob, my best friend, to be with some stranger?

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

I was surprised to hear what just was said. I was even more surprised to know that the voice that said it was mine. Whoops.

Life lesson number one: Don't be a smart-ass to a vampire who can kill you in a second.

All happiness and joy, every little trace of it fled from Aro's face as soon as the words left my mouth.

Though he was furious, he tried to keep calm. "What are you talking about, Renesmee?"

Taking a deep breath, I answered him defiantly, though I was reluctant to. "What I'm talking about is who are you to tell me who I should or shouldn't end up with? You're not my father."

Before I knew it, he reached out and slapped me in the face, making my cheeks turn—I'm sure—bright red. My whole entire face stung like hell, and I had to try my hardest not to cry out in pain.

But of course, since Aro is Aro, he pretended that nothing had happened and put on a calm, happy face.  
"You insolent little child, I'm just trying to help you. I'm trying to help you choose what's best for you. Imagine how happy your family would be if you chose a half-vampire, half-human like yourself. You do want to make your family happy, don't you, Renesmee?" he tried to persuade.

"I don't need your help, Aro. I can decide for myself."

He forced a swallow and put his happy face back on. "Alright. If you're sure. But may I ask you a question?"

My jaw tensed slightly. "Sure."

"What are you and your family's' diets these days?" he inquired.

I looked back at the poor, lifeless, pale corpse still lying on the ground and exhaled heavily. "Well, I can tell you one thing. It's definitely not the same as yours," I answered a bit sourly.

"Now, now, you cannot blame me for that entirely. She was the one who was wondering out in the woods by herself, much like yourself. It's dangerous, you know. You should have listened to that pet of yours. He can give good advice…at times," he told me almost vacantly.

"Wait…did you just threaten me?" I asked, a bit fearful.

He smiled brightly—and creepily—towards me. "Why no, of course not, dear."

I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be reassuring or not, since he had already hurt me.

"Okay…" Then reality came to me again. "Um, Aro, do you know what time it is?"

"Why, no, I don't. But I'm sure I could find out." With that, he walked back out to the poor teenage girl lying in the middle of the clearing and slipped what seemed to be a cell phone from out of her hands. Aro pushed a button and snorted a bit in amusement. "Silly, silly humans. They always try to call the authorities, but they're never able to. And even if they were, what would they be able to do against either one of us?"

"No, please, leave me out of it," I halfway begged, still disgusted by Aro's lack of conscience.

"Oh, dear Renesmee, you can't help but be part of disasters. It's in your nature."

"No, it's not. I'm not evil, I'm not a monster," I tried to convince myself. "Can you just tell me what time it is?"

"Here," he said, tossing me the phone. Though he probably only used half of his effort, it flew at me at probably at least two hundred miles per hour. It was a good thing I had quick reflexes. I looked quickly at the clock and almost sighed when I realized it had been just past an hour since I had gone trekking off.

_Jacob, please, hurry up..._

"Here," I said quietly, flipping the phone back to Aro.

"Why did you have to know the time?" he asked skeptically.

"Because I wanted to know what time I had to be back home to cook dinner for me and Jacob," I improvised.

He still didn't look like he bought it, but he nodded anyway. Then he turned cheerful, more than usual. "In your thoughts I saw that little Alice was here with you, too. Is that correct?"

Reluctantly I replied, "Yes..."

"Well, do you think she would mind if I paid her a small visit?" he questioned, almost eager.

"Um, I'm not sure. You'll have to check with her."

"Well, if I'm able to do that, then what's the purpose of asking her if I can see her?" he asked logically.

I shrugged.

Then, he smiled again. "You know, Renesmee, you would be very helpful in my guard, though you are not a full vampire…" he told me. "The possibilities of your power are quite picturesque..."

I swallowed hard. This is what I was afraid of. Damn. Jacob was going to be pissed if he ever found out about this. So pissed he'd probably want to kill Aro, then that would make the whole Volturi guard want to come after us...

That, however, is _not_ very picturesque.

"So, Renesmee, are you interested in joining the guard? I'm sure we could find sleeping arrangements for you, and even dining, if you're not satisfied with our diet," he planned.

"Um, no thanks. I'm happy where I am."

"Well that's not a problem. We could find spots for your family as well. And maybe even your little mongrel. A guard dog, perhaps..."

"What? No! Jacob would _never_ do that," I erupted. "And neither would I."

"Hmmm... Going to be difficult, are we? Well, we could always get Jane to...persuade you and your family," he hinted.

"Would you really sink that low? That's not a good way to get robots for your guard." Dang it. I talked before I thought...again...

His jaw tensed. Before I knew it, he reached out and hit me again, only this time had more affect. He knocked me to the ground and stepped on my ribs so I couldn't get back up. There was pure hatred in his eyes. I winced under his weight. "I do not have to persuade all of my guard. They aren't as stubborn as you and your family. And how do you think I got Jane and Alec to join the guard? It's not very likely that I used Jane against Jane, is it?" he snarled.

"No, it's not. But I think I know exactly how you got them to join your little cult," I spoke daringly. I knew I was crossing a line here, one that was very dangerous to cross, but I felt like I had no other choice.

"Oh, really? And how do you suspect that is?" he inquired like he was talking to a child. I sighed internally. I'm sick of all this childish crap.

"You told them that there was no other way. That there was no better choice. You could either be predator or prey. Well, you know what? They were stupid enough to fall for it. But me? I'm not. You may think that I'm a child, that I'm ignorant, but I'm more than that. Much more. And I know that there's another way to live than to just kill people for pleasure and intimidate people. I'm not going to sink that low," I ranted.

"We're not who you think we are. We're not evil beings. We do what we do for good, not for evil," Aro tried to convince me. He finally took his foot off of my chest, but he was still close. I didn't want to try to get up. I honestly thought some of my ribs were broken now.

Okay, now I felt like I was in a freaking superhero movie from his speech.

I shook my head in disbelief and pointed over to the dead body in the middle of the clearing, barely recoiling at the effort it took. "How the hell is that good?" I exploded.

"It's called survival, Renesmee," he told me in a hard voice.

"It's called cruelty, abuse, ruthlessness… Whatever you want to call it, it's horrible. I mean, she's an actual human being. Do you know what was going on in her life? I mean, besides your 'gift'? Did you have any regard for how she was feeling before you literally sucked the life out of her? No. None of you ever do. That's the problem. You have no conscience at all. And don't even try to give me that 'no soul, no conscience' thing. I won't feel any sympathy for you at all, none whatsoever," I argued.

I heard a deep, uncontained growl building in his chest.

Yup, I definitely crossed the line.

I especially knew that I crossed the line when he picked me up and threw me into a nearby tree, sending me at least twenty feet at about two hundred miles per hour. Yup, that's going to hurt like hell for probably at least the next week.

"You don't know what it's like to be one of us, not really, Renesmee," he snarled, though trying to keep control, even though he just lost it.

"I know that. That's not what I was arguing," I croaked in a weak voice.

He shook his head quickly, apparently clearing it. But to me, that would just make my head even dizzier. Then, he walked back over to me, picking me up and throwing me to the ground near the dead girl in the center of the clearing. I let out a small whimper, still trying to keep hold of what little pride I had left.

"You are going to pay, Renesmee Cullen," he threatened.

"No, I don't think she is."

I daringly twisted my head around to see my whole life suddenly standing at the entrance to the clearing. I had to turn my head back around then. I already had a killer headache.

"Jake," I breathed weakly.

He ran over to me, kneeling down to my level but never taking his narrowed eyes off of Aro. "It's going to be okay, Ness," he whispered quietly into my ear.

"Are you sure that..._he's_the one you're happy with?" Aro asked, tilting his head.

I nodded slightly into Jacob's chest.

"Really? Because that confirmation didn't seem so sure to me."

"Bloodsucker, if you're smart, then you won't ever speak to her again," Jacob growled menacingly. Aro didn't answer. But I thought an answer to Aro anyway.

_Aro, I'm one hundred percent certain that I'll want Jacob forever, and only Jacob. I don't want someone exactly like me, and if I did, I would be talking about Nahuel all the time, not Jacob, _I thought to him.

_Are you sure you won't ever want a change? I mean, in a century or two, you could change your views,_ he projected back to me.

"Never," I spoke out loud, making a weak attempt at intimidation.

"Mmm. Alright. If you're sure that's the way you want it," he finally agreed. _But just keep in mind our earlier conversation about the off springs. Which one will be safe and not attract attention, and which one will… _Thank God he thought that to me instead of talking out loud. I didn't need to be even more embarrassed today.

"Sure, sure," I hastily responded to his thought.

"I'll try to catch up will you soon, Renesmee. Maybe we can talk some more," he suggested in a false joyful voice. Jacob glared the whole time.

I didn't respond. I wanted to say 'Um, no way in hell am I ever going to talk to you again, you bastard', but I doubted that that would make anything better.

"Nice seeing you, Renesmee," he said as he headed for the other end of the clearing. "Tell your grandfather that I send my salutations, will you?"

"Of course," I called in an innocently sweet voice. Pain shot randomly through my spine, and I tried to keep from whimpering, for Jacob's sake.

Then, he was gone. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief and cried in Jacob's arms.

"Ness, what happened? Are you hurt? What did he do?" Jacob questioned frantically.

"I'll tell you when we get back home. I just want to get out of here," I sobbed.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Come on, I'll carry you home," he offered.

I nodded a little, and he picked me up as gently as possible, cradling me to his chest. Then he started walking as quickly as he could without moving me too much, though, with every step he took, unbearable pain shot through  
my body. Yup, I definitely broke something.

Well, at least I didn't get killed.

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**A/N: Well...I hope you liked it! PLease review. If you leave a signed review, I'll send you a preview! :D I'll try my hardest to post on Wednesday...for specific reasons... :D So, yeah. I hope you liked it! PLEASEEEEEEE REVIEW!**


	39. Waiting

**A/N: Hey everyone. I'm _sooooooooooooooooooooooo_ sorry that it's taken me so long to post. Between homework and after school stuff and just school itself, I haven't really had much time at all. Plus, on the weekends, I'm basically never home... :( Plus, it doesn't help that for the past few times I've been trying to post, it wouldn't let me, for no specific reason at all... so, basically, I'm really, _really, REALLY _sorry for not updating for, like...a really long time. Either way, I hope you all like this chapter. :)**

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**_**Chapter 39: Waiting**_

**_Renesmee Cullen's POV_**

Holding back one wince after another was hard. And I didn't want to make Jacob feel bad and try to help me, because right now there was nothing he could do.

But he still tried to make everything his fault. Every time I visibly moved, he would apologize, and I would—or, I would try—to shake my head to infer that it wasn't his fault. I didn't want to actually speak, in fear of screaming out in agonizing torment.

Jacob was going as fast as he could to get to the house without shifting me too much, but it had little effect.

_Run,_ I thought to him, accidently sending a brief mix of my pain, too, which made _him_ wince.

"I'm sorry..." he apologized, kissing my forehead gently. Then, he started to run. The pain wasn't that much worse, but then again, how could it be worse than before?

Finally, about four or five minutes later, we were in the backyard of the house again. Jacob carefully moved me, trying not to cause any more pain, and quickly slid the door open.

Jasper was waiting in one of the living rooms, since he probably knew I was coming, because he most likely felt my anguish.

"Nessie, what's wrong? What happened?" Jasper tried to question calmly.

"Aro," Jacob growled, the name coming out like acid. "I swear to God I'm going to kill him," he threatened.

_No, Jake, you can't kill him. Because even if you did, by some miracle, get past his guard, we would all die,_ I projected, still sending my torture unintentionally.

He shut his eyes, keeping them closed for several seconds. "I'm so, so sorry..." he said, his voice sounding miserable. I knew his hurt was because of mine, and I couldn't let him feel guilty about it. I couldn't let both of us be agonized.

_It's not your fault._ I tried to hold back as much of my feelings as possible, but some still went into his mind.

"Yes it is. If I hadn't let you go into the woods by yourself..." he whispered to me.

I tried to shake my head, but all I did was wince. That made Jacob's jaw tense. He laid me down on the couch gently, though it was still somewhat painful.

Jacob looked at Jasper. "Can you help her? At all?"

"Well, _I_ can't," he answered, his tone apologetic. "But we could call in Carlisle and see what he can do..."

"No!" I shouted too quickly to stop myself, snapping my neck up quickly as a reflex reaction. Far too quickly. Followed by that one word, that one syllable, was a blood-curdling scream. Mine.

I felt like I was literally being ripped apart, like every muscle in my body was being torn, every bone being broken…

"Nessie, Nessie..." Jacob shouted frantically over my scream.

I tried to stop screaming, and, after several seconds of trying, I got myself to calm down a bit.

"Um, Jacob...I...I think her spine is broken..." Jasper said cautiously.

"W-what? Wouldn't she be paralyzed?" Jacob asked in a broken voice.

"I'm not sure. I mean, she's not a human. We wouldn't know until Carlisle gets here." Jasper turned to me. "Nessie, I know that you don't like the idea, but you need a doctor, one who's educated on the supernatural."

I had finally stopped screaming. Finally. And before I knew it, Alice was right beside me. "Oh my God, Nessie..." she said, sobbing tearlessly.

By this point, I was crying, too. Only I actually had tears to shed. Also, my tears were for _my_ burning anguish, not someone else's.

"Alice, go call Carlisle, please. Tell him to come by himself, and don't tell him why he has to come, just tell him to get here as soon as possible, to leave the house as quickly and as unnoticeably as possible, and to keep his thoughts hidden. But...tell him to bring his doctor supplies, too... God, I have no idea how we're going to keep this a secret from Edward..." Jasper trailed, holding his head in his hands.

"Great," I mumbled, flinching a bit as I did so.

"Nessie, I know it's not your first choice, but it's your best choice," Jasper stated wisely.

Jacob leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. "Remember what I said earlier? I told you we would get through this, and that's what we're going to do," he whispered, determined, into my ear.

I tried to nod, but I couldn't.

Alice came over to me, then, and grasped my hand in hers. "Sweetheart, it'll be okay. And...and I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean it...I was just angry. And...I just wanted to look out for you. I know that I treat you like my daughter, and that's because...well, you might as well be. I love you, Ness. Always remember that," she sincerely told me, still looking as though she were about to cry though we all knew she was never going to.

I smiled up at her. "Thank you, Aunt Alice," I mumbled weakly.

"Alice, can you please go call Carlisle?" Jacob asked in an impatient manner.

Alice shot her head toward him and nodded. "Yeah, sorry," she breathed as she ran into the other room where the phone was. I heard her dial the phone, and then I heard...my dad's voice.

_What? Why the hell does my dad have Carlisle's phone?_

"Oh, hi, Edward," Alice greeted a bit nervously.

"Hello, Alice...is everything okay?"

"Yes, it's perfectly fine. Why do you ask?" she questioned, putting on her poker face.

"Because you sound nervous, like you're hiding something."

Damn perceptive fathers.

"Of course I'm not, Edward. You know me better than that," Alice attempted to persuade.

"I thought I did," I barely heard my dad mutter.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Can I please just talk to Carlisle?"

Here comes paranoid father mode...

"What? Why?"

Called it.

"Because I need to speak with him," Alice said in a hard tone.

"Tell me why you need to talk to him first," he said stubbornly.

"Oh, just give him the damn phone, Edward."

"Does it have something to do with Nessie?" he asked, totally ignoring Alice's request.

"No," Alice answered. I had to give her credit; she actually sounded truthful.

"Jacob?" my father asked, far less concerned.

"God damn it, Edward, just give Carlisle the phone!" Alice screeched impatiently.

"Fine," he grumbled.

A few seconds later, I heard a new voice.

"Hello, Alice. What do you need?"

"We need you to come out to Paris for a little bit..." Alice said evasively, turning nervous again.

"Why? Is everything alright?" Carlisle asked worriedly.

"Yeah...but we just need your help. Plus, Jacob misses you." She shot Jacob a smirk. Jacob just rolled his eyes and turned back to me, hardly any expression on his face at all.

"Alright," he agreed, ignoring Alice's joke.

"Oh, and come alone. Get here as soon as possible. Bring your doctor's stuff. Bye!" Alice nervously hung up the phone before Carlisle had a chance to respond.

"Edward _would_ have to answer the phone before Carlisle..." Jasper trailed.

"Tell me about it," Alice droned.

"How soon do you think he'll be here?" I asked in a strained voice, wincing as I did so.

"I don't know, Sweetheart. Maybe...twelve hours if he hurries. And if he doesn't have anybody with him... But we all know Edward. He's probably on father freak-out mode. Even worse since he's a vampire..." Alice faded.

"Ness, don't worry. It's going to be fine. You're going to be fine," Jacob tried to assure me.

"Are you sure? Because I seriously feel like crap right now. I can't frickin' move," I complained.

He furrowed his brow as he looked at me with concern. "You're going to be fine...eventually. But...think of it this way, if you're still hurt by the time we get home, you won't have to go to school for even longer," Jacob said, a false smile on his face as an attempt to even partially cheer me up.

"Yeah, sure, but that also means that I'll have more damn homework to do," I almost growled through my gritted teeth.

"I'll do it for you, Ness," I heard Alice offer.

I tried my best to smile, but it probably came out warped and disfigured, because Jasper was smiling, too, almost chuckling. Jacob glared at him.

I stopped "smiling." "Thanks, Alice."

"No problem, Sweetheart," she said, walking into the kitchen. Before I knew it, she was back with a glass of orange juice. "Here, drink this. It might help you feel better..."

I chugged the whole glass, not realizing how thirsty I was.

Then I continued to lay on the couch, unmoving, waiting for Carlisle.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of music coming from somewhere close. I blinked a few times, getting rid of the blurriness in my eyes. I turned my eyes in the direction of the music and saw a stereo. Then, at the end of a cord, I saw my iPod. Then, after another second, I recognized the song playing. I smiled. Or, once again, tried to.

"Whose idea was it to play the music?" I asked on a tired voice.

"Mine." I looked up and moved too quickly. Pain shot through my spine, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was before.

"Holy...!" I cut myself off, since my grandpa was standing right behind me.

He smiled a bit, coming around to the side of the couch. "Sorry. And we can turn the music off, if you want. But I figured that it would help to relax you. Or, you know, we could change the music to something classical, you know, instead of..._this_."

"No!" I exclaimed. No way was I going to let _anybody_ change the music from "Instant Karma!" to the Für Elise or something like that. Because, in my opinion, John Lennon was better than Beethoven.

Grandpa sighed. He didn't like the Beatles. Any of them. I rolled my eyes at his opposition.

"When did you get here?" I questioned him.

"About an hour ago," he told me. "They told me how you get hurt... I'm so sorry. I never imagined that _Aro_ would do something like that... Felix and Dimitri, of course...but Aro?" he shook his head, then let out a large breath.

"One more question," I said.

"Yes?"

"How in the world did you manage to ditch my dad?" I asked disbelievingly.

He chuckled. "Well, let me tell you, it wasn't the easiest thing to do in the world..."

I smiled unwillingly. "Ow," I said as I drew in a quick breath.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll see what I can do about your injuries, but... I only brought a limited amount of everything... Including anesthesia," he hinted, looking sorry already.

"Ow," I repeated, already dreading the future.

"I'm sorry," he said in advance, an almost pained looking expression on his chalky face.

He moved me carefully and gently to a table that looked like it belonged in a science lab. When he set me on it and shined a light down on me, I felt like I was a frog in a science class. Then he started examining my injuries. I had to hold back winces every time.

As time went on, his expression, if possible, darkened more.

"What?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"I'm...I'm, uh...going to have to re-break some of the fractures... They healed too quickly," he said in an apologetic tone.

I closed my eyes and swallowed my fear. "Alright, then. Go," I spoke. My words were brave, I suppose, but if I knew what kind of horrible pain awaited me, I wouldn't have been so quick to oblige.

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**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! I'll try my very best to post chapter 40 soon... I've started writing it already, so if you review, you'll get a preview. :) Anyway, thanks for reading! :D**


	40. Jumping to Conclusions

**A/N: Here's chapter 40! I hope you like it, and...well, sorry if it seems awkward...you'll know what I'm talking about. Haha. :D**_**

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**_Chapter 40: Jumping to Conclusions_**

**_Renesmee Cullen's POV_**

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

It had become a chorus of apologies coming from around the flat, cold, chrome metal surface that I was on. Most of the "I'm sorrys" came from Jacob who, of course, thought that this was entirely his fault. I couldn't tell any of them to stop apologizing for no reason, for I was trying to hold back a blood-curdling scream that, if it came out, would surely make everyone around me permanently deaf.

Carlisle was _still_ re-breaking some of my fractures. He was trying to be as gentle as possible, but, during the process of breaking bones, there was absolutely no way in hell that it could be any form of gentle.

From what Carlisle had told me, my condition didn't look so good. He told me that if I was just a human, I would for sure be dead right now, which, of course got Jacob paranoid. Carlisle also said that part of my spine was broken, along with a few of my ribs, and my left arm. He assured me that I would heal almost to normal in a few weeks, maybe a month, but that I would have to wait almost two months before I was completely back to normal. The main word I thought when he was telling me this was "damn."

I'm pretty sure that was the word going through Jacob's head as well, but I'm not sure why it would be such a big deal to him. I mean, I know he cares about me, but...

About an hour or two after Carlisle started the bone-re-breaking process, he was finally done and my bones were taped. He thought that I couldn't feel all of the pain when he re-fractured my injuries, since he gave me some anesthesia, but I just kept my eyes closed and pretended that I was still at least part way under. I still felt nearly all of the pain. But I wouldn't tell my grandpa that. And especially not Jake.

"Go to sleep, Ness. And...I'm sorry," I heard Carlisle say. Then I heard his retreating footsteps. I obeyed his orders, hoping that some sleep would take at least part of the pain away.

* * *

"Edward, relax, she's fine… Yes, I'm fine, too… Everybody's alright…"

I opened my eyes and saw the worried face of my grandpa. He, of course, was talking to my dad. Damn.

"Carlisle, why the hell did you go all the way to Paris for no reason?" I heard my dad's angry voice.

Carlisle sighed. "Edward, you don't have to know _everything_."

"When it could concern my daughter, yes I do," he almost growled.

Carlisle looked over at me and saw that I was awake. "Edward, she's okay."

"Alright. Then, if she's okay, let me talk to her."

He looked at me, and I thought to him, _I'll be fine._ He reluctantly put the phone up to my ear, since I couldn't hold it myself.

Since pain I had felt the last time I was awake was far less searing as it had been, I thought I would be okay to talk to my father over the phone.

"Hi, Dad."

"Renesmee, are you alright?" he asked frantically.

"Yes, Dad. I'm alright." I had to work hard to keep the tiredness out of my voice.

"Are you sure?" Knowing my dad, I should have expected this.

"Yes."

"Not very convincing."

I sighed. "Dad, I'm perfectly fine. There is nothing wrong with me. I promise," I lied through my teeth.

"Okay. Then if you're perfectly fine, I can come out to see you, right?"

"No. It's supposed to be _my_ vacation," I argued.

His voice got a bit angrier. "Why don't you want me to be there? Are you hiding something?

"My God, I just told you why I don't want you to come!" I exploded, trying my hardest not to wince as I accidently shifted.

"Well, I don't believe it," he said stubbornly. "So, I'm coming."

"_No_!" I screamed into the receiver.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. After about a minute of this, I asked quietly, "Dad?"

"Oh my God," he breathed.

"…What?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"Y-you and Jacob… Balcony… France… Kissing… Y-you're… No…" he blubbered.

"Dad…what are you trying to infer…?" I asked cautiously.

I heard him take a deep breath. "Renesmee, you better not be…" he trailed.

"What?" I prompted.

"P-pregnant."

"_WHAT_?" I screamed.

"Well, it all makes sense. You don't want me to go and visit you, but Carlisle apparently had to go over there for something, so…" he rambled. "Plus, you were acting all secretive when I mentioned Jacob, and it all makes sense. But, I swear to God if that _dog_ knocked you up, I'm going to rip his head off," he snarled.

"Dad, relax, I'm not pregnant," I assured. "But…you _seriously_ thought I was pregnant? How is that even possible for me?"

"I don't know. You tell me," he said, a daring tone in his voice.

"Okay, look, even if I _had_ a sex life, I wouldn't talk to my dad about it," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"Um…_what_?"

_Damn it_.

I looked to the kitchen doorway and, sure enough, I saw a very confused Jacob standing there.

I groaned. "Thanks a lot, Dad," I muttered into the phone. "I'm gonna go now…"

"What? Why?" Edward asked, confused as well.

"Bye. I'll talk to you later…maybe…" With that, Carlisle hung up the phone and I slowly turned my eyes toward Jacob. "Hi…" I said quietly.

"Uh…hi… Do you mind telling me what you just said was about?" he inquired almost cautiously.

"Um…y-yeah, sure… Well, my dad called Carlisle and he wanted to come visit and I said no, he couldn't and then he jumped to the conclusion that I was pregnant and then he threatened you and I was confused and then you heard what you heard and I'm rambling now, so I'm gonna stop."

He nodded slowly, a slightly amused look in his eyes. "That's, uh…that's interesting…"

"It is, isn't it?" I asked.

A very confused Carlisle stood up and walked slowly out of the room. Jacob came around to the front of the couch that I was lying on and sat beside me on the floor.

"How the hell could your dad think that I got you pregnant?" Jacob asked, the question seeming to be asked more to himself than to me. "I wouldn't do that..."

I answered anyway. "I have no freaking idea. You know him. He gets way too paranoid."

"Yeah…" He looked at me. "Do you feel better?"

"Actually…I do," I stated, surprising myself.

He chuckled a little at my shock. Then he leaned up and kissed my forehead. "Good. I'm glad."

I smiled. I think I actually _could_ smile now. Then my smile faded a bit. "Um…just curious, but…did Carlisle mention anything that has to do with when I'm going to be able to actually _move_ again?"

"I think he said that with your kind, it's unpredictable, but he says you're more like my kind than their kind, so…it'll probably be about…a day or two before you can get up and walk…" he predicted.

I sighed. _Way_ longer than I wanted the answer to be. But I guess this is better than being a human and dying right after your spine broke.

"Great. That means I'll be bored out of my mind for the next two days," I complained.

"I'll stay with you the whole time, if that helps," he offered, grinning.

"Of course it helps."

I reached up with my right arm and pulled his face closer to mine, kissing him. he pulled away after a couple seconds, though.

"Do I have to remind you that Carlisle's here?" he whispered.

"Oh yeah… Damn," I muttered.

He smiled, leaning closer to me. Then, he said huskily and quietly, "Screw the rules," and kissed me again. I grinned against his lips.

We kept making-out until we heard a very surprised, highly concerned voice coming from the kitchen doorway. It, of course, was Carlisle.

"What in the world are you two doing?"

* * *

It was three days after Carlisle had caught me and Jake kissing in the living room and—thank God—he hasn't called my father…yet. But, let me tell you, he sure did give us a lecture. An hour long lecture, to be exact. You know, not that Jake and I were listening anyway. The one part I did catch, however, was the fact that if he caught us again, he _would_ call my dad. That's the bad news.

The good news is that I can actually walk, and that I'll no longer be _completely_ bored.

I slowly—and crippled-ly—walked into the front room where Jacob was sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Hey," I said, carefully sitting down next to him.

"Hey, Ness. What do you want to watch?" he asked me, reaching for the remote.

"I don't know. Nothing, really… At this point, I just sort of want to go home."

He sighed. "Yeah…I know. And I'm still really, really sorry about what happened. I should've never let you go in the woods by yourself…" he said for about the hundredth time in the past three days.

I leaned my head on his shoulder. "It's okay. It's not your fault. It's mine. _Please_ quit trying to blame yourself," I pled.

"I'll try," he complied. Or, at least half-way complied. "You know, if you want me to, I'll go ask Alice or Jasper if we can leave early," he offered.

"No. First of all, I don't want to have to face my dad early. Second of all, I probably would die if I had to ride on a plane right now," I explained.

He sighed. "Alright, if you're sure."

I nodded as I continued to lie against his arm until I fell asleep.

* * *

"Nessie? Nessie, Sweetie, wake up. Come on…" I heard a voice in the distance say.

I opened my eyes and almost screamed. Hazel eyes were staring back at me. But they weren't just any hazel eyes.

They were the eyes of my mother.

"M-mom? What're you doing here?" I almost screeched.

"Good morning to you, too," she said sarcastically.

I rolled my tired eyes. "Morning. Now, why in the world are you here?"

She sighed. "You're dad was worried about you, so—"

"Oh my God, dad's here?" I panicked.

"Will you let me finish?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Mom," I apologized.

"Okay, well, your dad was worried, so I told him I would come and check on everything here, because he didn't want to leave me alone there and he also didn't us both to come here… It's a long story, Hon," she explained.

"Okay…so, Dad's _not_ here, right?"

"Correct," she confirmed.

I almost sighed with relief. "Okay. Just making sure."

"Why have you been so afraid of your dad lately?" she asked, concerned.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and thought.

Should I tell her about me and Jake? Would she understand, or would she run and tell my dad? She would tell my dad, right? I mean, she _is_ married to him. But…I can't just base my decisions off my thoughts. Plus, if she didn't mind about me and Jake, then she could help to hide our thoughts from my dad. I guess she wouldn't be _that_ mad, because I don't remember _her_ breaking down the door to my room's balcony when she heard that me and Jacob kissed. But… Ugh, I just don't know…

Opening my eyes, I looked her straight in the face.

"Mom, I need to tell you something…"

* * *

**A/N: Okay, same deal as always: If you leave a signed review, I'll send you a preview of chapter 41. Anyway, I'll try to post again as soon as I can. :) Thanks for reading!**


	41. Au Revoir

**A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated for so long. I've just been busy with school and family issues and everything else. But I haven't stopped writing my story... :] Anyway, I hope you still read my story and I hope you favorite and review and everything else. :) Thanks for being patient. :)

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**_**Chapter 41: Au Revoir**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

"Sure, Sweetheart. Of course you can. You can tell me anything," she assured. I wondered if she would still be acting happy-go-lucky when I told her.

"Um… O-okay… Well, a few days ago… Me and Jake…"

She was sitting patiently on the edge of my bed, her eyebrows slightly creased and her eyes focused on mine, willing me to tell the truth.

But I couldn't.

I just couldn't.

"M-me and Jacob got into a small fight and I went off into the woods by myself and I ran into Aro and he got mad at me and broke my ribs and spine and my arm…" I said in a rush.

"Yeah, Sweetie, I know. Carlisle told me. Are you sure that's what you wanted to tell me?" she questioned. Her topaz eyes prodded into mine and searched for the truth, but she couldn't find it.

I sighed. "No. There's…there's something else, too…"

"Well, then, go on and say it," she prompted.

"A-alright." I swallowed back my fear and hoped for the best.

"Well, a few days ago…Jake and I went to this park outside of the Eiffel Tower. And when we were there…we, um…we kissed a…well, several times…" I admitted.

I waited for her to say something, but there was no reply.

After a couple minutes, I started to get paranoid. Finally, after a very long, awkward silence, she yelled at the top of her voice, "Jacob Black, get up here right now!"

Damn damn damn damn damn damn…

A few seconds later, Jacob was opening the door to my bedroom that I just realized I was in. Man, he was going to be so mad at me…

"What's going on, Bells?" Jacob asked, alerted but completely oblivious.

"You made-out with my daughter?" she asked quietly. Quiet is even more dangerous than loud when it comes to my mom.

"W-what?" Jacob questioned innocently.

"Jacob, don't even try to pretend you didn't. Nessie told me," she said.

He gave me a brief "wtf" look, then turned back to my mom, not looking into her eyes.

"Yes, Bella. I did. It was all my fault, so…don't blame Nessie."

"No. It…it was my fault. So…if you're going to tell Dad, then tell him it was all my fault. Because it was."

Bella groaned. "Okay, whose fault was it really?" she asked, exasperated.

"Mine," me and Jake said simultaneously.

This time I groaned. "Jacob, quit trying to take the blame for everything. You know it was my fault."

He sighed, but didn't say a word.

My mom looked at me. "So, this _was_ your fault?"

I swallowed. "Yes."

She let out a breath that I didn't know she was holding. "Well, I'm not going to tell your dad. That's pretty much death for Jacob, even if it was your fault, Ness."

"Thank you, Mom!" I exclaimed, hugging her. Slowly, of course.

"For what?"

"Not telling Dad," I responded.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to make you tell him. You know, in time," she said, and my hopes faded.

"Why are you going to make me tell him?" I asked.

"Because. He's your father and he has a right to know. Plus, he's going crazy back home, not knowing what's going on with you, Nessie. And I'm not going to tell him because that would basically kill your freedom and trust. You know, as well as Jacob. So, basically, I'm thinking of you and only you here. As well as your father's sanity..." she trailed.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll tell him...in February. February 31st. Okay?"

"Oka—hey! No," my mom said, catching on.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I'll tell him...God, I don't know..."

My mom smiled half-heartedly at me. "Sweetie, you'll know when to tell him," she said wisely.

I let out a breath. I flinched. _Ow._ Dang...my ribs were starting to hurt again...

"Ness, you okay?" Jacob asked with concern when he saw me.

"What? Yeah, yeah I'm fine...just, my ribs are hurting again. But it's no big deal," I assured.

"I'll get Carlisle," he said regardless and ran out of the room and down the stairs.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sweetie?" Bella asked, worry coating her features.

"Yes, I'm fine, Mom," I tried to tell her.

She sighed almost reluctantly. "Alright."

A second later, Jacob returned with Carlisle, and my grandpa stepped over to me.

"So, Jacob tells me that your ribs are hurting again?" he asked.

"Yeah, but it's not as bad as it was. I mean, it'll get better," I told him.

"Yes, it will. You're right. But for the time being, I want you to be as comfortable as possible, alright? Now lay down flat, I need to give you another x-ray," he instructed.

So, I sighed and followed his directions again.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Nessie!"

I was met by my grandma first, with a mile wide smile and a big hug.

Jake, Bella, Grandpa Carlisle, Jasper, Alice, and I had left France yesterday, with Alice promising us we'd be back again sometime, sooner rather than later.

"Hi, Grandma," I greeted, overly excited myself. I hugged her back, more gently than I was used to, taking caution for obvious reasons.

All of my injuries had healed wonderfully, according to Carlisle. Though, if I had been a human, there would have been pretty much no hope for me. When Jacob and my mother heard this, they freaked out a little, but Jasper thankfully got them calmed down again.

After I was done hugging my grandmother, I was met by Rosalie and Emmett, who gave me a bear hug, which almost killed me.

The last one to greet me was my father who, through all the reuniting, had been leaning casually against the wall of the living room. I actually had to walk over to him first.

"Hi, Daddy," I said brightly, though mildly cautious, trying to get a slight grin out of his neutral expression.

"Hello, Renesmee," he said to me lifelessly.

I sighed, and, walking away from him, muttered, "Glad to see you, too."

Nobody said another word, so I grabbed my suitcase and walked slowly up the stairs to unpack.

When I got to my room that I hadn't realized I would miss so much, I heard my mom talking to my father.

"Edward, she's been waiting to see you. Did you have to act so rudely?" she demanded, though not in a very harsh tone. One thing my mom isn't good at: being strict, especially with Edward.

"I'm sorry, Bella. But I know she's not telling me something. And I know that you're in on it," he said almost daringly.

"And what makes you figure that?" she asked of him sternly.

"Please, Love, just tell me what happened in France," he begged sincerely.

"Nothing happened," she told him. Another thing my mom isn't good at: lying.

"Bella, I know you're not telling the truth," he stated, tone disappointed.

She sighed. "I'm not going to tell you, Edward. If you want to know what happened, not that here's anything that happened in the first place, talk to Nessie," she instructed him. I could hear her light footsteps heading away from him.

I sighed and continued to unpack. Though, when I came across the beautiful deep lavender dress, the one that I wore that night to the Eiffel Tower and the park and... Well, my progress slowed. I held it up as high as I could, trying to get a full view of all of it. I stood admiring the dress until I heard a soft knock at my bedroom door. Setting the dress down gently, I walked slowly to answer the door, still caught up in my memories, though I tried my hardest to clear them. Even though Bella was blocking my thoughts from Edward, I could still transfer my thoughts to him. And that wouldn't really be the best idea of my life...

As I opened the door, I found that it was a damn good thing that I cleared my mind. There stood my father, an almost distant look in his black eyes. They had a glassy essence to them, and it made them look like marble, which was fitting, what with the cold stare that went with them.

"What?" I demanded, my voice hard. I crossed my arms across my chest and stared at him, straight into his dark eyes.

He sighed and dropped his gaze. "I'm sorry for not talking to you much when you got here, Nessie. But...I know you're hiding something," he told me.

Thankfully, I'm like my father at lying. Very, very good. Or, at least in necessary and crucial situations. "Dad, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not hiding anything," I said with a completely straight face.

"Renesmee, I'm not an idiot. I know more than you think I do."

"Really? Then can you tell me what you know? Because I really have no idea what you're talking about," I told him, keeping my poker face.

He rolled his eyes. "Renesmee, stop. Right now," he warned, a hint of venom in his voice.

I groaned, uncrossing my arms. "Dad, why can't you just trust me? I mean, really trust me? Please, for just once in my life, believe me!" I nearly shouted. Tears were welling up at the back of my eyes, threatening to escape, but I refused to let them.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. After a minute or so of this, he looked back to me and smirked a little, though overall emotionlessly.

"Alright, then. I guess if that's the way you want to play, then that way it will be." Then he walked away.

I stood there for a minute or two, a little shocked. But when finally the shock wore off, I just went back to unpacking, deciding to pretend that everything had been normal so far.

When I finally finished putting everything away, I descended back down the stairs to find many of the wolves in the living room. I walked over to where Jacob was sitting on the couch.

"Why is everyone here? Not that I have a problem with it, but..." I trailed.

"Oh, they were just coming over for a little bit to say hi and whatnot, I guess," Jacob told me.

I squeezed into the nearly nonexistent space on the couch between him and Paul, and continued to talk to him. Alice came over too, occasionally, and talked to both of us, reminiscing about France.

During one of our conversations, she suddenly spaced out, giving a blank stare.

"Alice? Alice?" I questioned, nearing franticness.

She turned to Jake, her petite, pixie face slightly frightened. "Maybe the pack should stay the night here, in case my vision becomes reality."

And then she left.

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**A/N: I hope you liked it. :) PLEASE REVIEW! I'm planning on posting the next and final chapter tomorrow, since I already have it all typed. I think what I'm going to do is make a sequel to _Solstice_, since this story is getting pretty long. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review! :D**


	42. My Worst Nightmare

**A/N: Okay, so, this is officially the last chapter of _Solstice_, though I'm planning on writing a sequel. But please, I'm begging you now, don't hate me for the end. It was rather necessary. But thank you to all of you who read my story. :) You're awesome!**

**Also, just to let you know, I'm most likely going to be naming the sequel _Equinox_. And I really hope you read it... :D **

**Okay, I'll stop typing my A/N now. But one more thing: PLEASE REVIEW! I love getting reviews... :D Okay... well, here's chapter 42, A.K.A. the last chapter of _Solstice_. I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

_**Chapter 42: My Worst Nightmare**_

_**Renesmee Cullen's POV**_

"Ness, wake up, please, Ness, please wake up, please..."

A frantic voice was calling me out of my deep sleep. Dazed, I opened my eyes and saw the dark, hazel eyes of Alice looking back at me. She looked...afraid. _Afraid?_ That definitely wasn't Alice.

"Alice, what's going on?" I slurred, still half asleep.

"You need to get out of here, now," she instructed hastily.

"Wha—why?" I exclaimed.

"Just trust me," she said urgently. Then she rushed out of my bedroom, leaving me alone. "Hurry!" she yelled, still running.

I have no idea why, but, on impulse, I grabbed two bracelets from my nightstand, put them in my pocket, and followed Alice, running as fast as I could.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I was faced with a horrid scene.

Bodies.

Everywhere.

My breathing faltered for a moment, but I had to keep going. And, before I knew it, I was surrounded by flames. I let out an ear-piercing shriek as I tried to find the front door through the rapidly growing thick black smoke. And when I finally found it, I almost wished I hadn't.

I saw my family and the wolves and other people who I didn't know at all. Only, they weren't people. They were vampires, from what I could tell. But not the kind that I was used to. They were monsters. Evil, sadistic, sinister monsters. They were killers.

I couldn't watch this. I just couldn't. But I didn't have a choice.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure lunge at me, and ducked out of the way just in time. As the monster landed, it snarled at me, and, as a reaction, I snarled back. Probably not a very good idea.

It sprang at me again and I jumped over it just in time. Then, a russet wolf came from behind the vampire, throwing it to the ground, shredding it to pieces. I couldn't spare another glance at my Jacob, the risks were too high. So, I ran to find my father.

"Re-nes-mee—" he grunted when he saw me, in the middle of a fight with one of the malicious beasts. But I had caused him to lose focus.

"Daddy, pay attention!" I screamed at him, dodging another flying enemy. Wow, if I lived through tonight, all the bones that I'd broken will _really_ be killing me by tomorrow.

Edward went back to fighting with the vampire, finally forcing it into a vulnerable position and defeating it. Meanwhile, the one who lunged at me was making a comeback, charging back at me. This time, I decided to face it.

It was coming at me head-on, its nostrils flared, its blood red eyes gleaming. I got out of the way just in time to escape behind it, trapping their icy arms behind their back. And, using all the strength that I was able to build up, I disassembled the two limbs.

My father was currently looking at me like I was a strange alien, but at the same time, an admirable strange alien.

"Nice," he breathed.

Leaning over, I took the monster's head in my grasp and pulled, dismembering it from the shoulders. It was now officially dead. "Thanks," I said to him.

"Now, Nessie, as amazing and lucky as that was, you have to go somewhere safer for this," he told me as he threw another monster down to the cold, hard earth.

"But Daddy, I can't leave here," I said in a pleading tone.

"Ness...please. You have to. I can't lose you, Ness," he begged, fear in his voice and clear on his face.

"Then where do you suggest I go that would be any safer?"

He sighed, crossing his arms, in spite of all the danger. "I don't know. But please, try as hard as you can to stay away from them, alright? Please? You have to promise me." His eyes were pained, tortured with fear and almost regret.

"I-I promise," I pledged, though slightly reluctant.

"Alright," he said, letting out a small sigh of relief. "Now...try to find Emmett. He'll keep you safe. But you have to keep your eyes open, look out for any danger whatsoever, then dodge them, like you were doing before. Are we understood?"

"Yes, Dad. Go find Emmett, dodge the evil little bloodsuckers. I got it." And then, I dashed off to find my uncle.

"Emmett!" I called out to him, trying to pick up even a slight indication of where he was in the chaos.

"N-Ness?" I heard him grunt to my left. So, I followed his voice, ducking under a few leaps before I found him annihilating another creature.

"Emmett, my dad told me to stay with you," I informed him, kicking one of the monsters coming toward me in his chest. But I let Emmett take over from there, since I'd already sort of broken my promise to my dad with that one kick.

"Alright," he said to me simply, going back to destroying the enemy.

I waited patiently, wanting so badly to join in and help. But I had to keep this promise to my dad, if nothing else. I mean, Lord knows I'd broken the no kissing rule. So, I figured that I might as well keep some of his trust. But all I was really worried about now was the safety of my family, of the wolves. Of my Jacob. What would happen after the fight? Would everything go back to normal, or would things always be different? And, if they were, _why_ would they be different? I didn't want to think of all the possibilities. But hopefully my family and the pack had an advantage by this point, seeming as they'd fought many battles before together. And, from what I could tell, the vampires they were fighting against were mostly newborns, except for a few, though they weren't exactly old, maybe a few years of vampire life to their advantage. But I could tell they didn't have much experience, seeming as their numbers were dropping quickly and, for all I knew, our numbers were the same as they had been. Though, just to check, I tried to spot everyone in my family, just to make sure that they were okay.

I knew Emmett was alright, so I started looking for Rosalie, and found her in a fight of her own. She looked as though she was winning, so I looked away, scoping out Esme, then Carlisle, then Jasper, then Alice...

I saw my dad where he was before, still battling. So, I looked for my mom. And I looked, and I looked. But I couldn't see her.

_Don't panic,_ I thought to myself. _She's perfectly fine, I'm sure._ I kept repeating this over and over in my head, trying to calm myself down, even if only a little bit. _She's fine, she's fine._

_Jacob,_ my mind suddenly remembered. _Where is Jacob?  
_  
I looked around, I looked everywhere, but I didn't see him. And trust me, it was very hard to miss Jacob when he was a wolf.

I didn't want to face the truth of the first question that came into my mind. I just couldn't. But tears came to my eyes either way.

What if the answer to my unspoken question was yes? What if all of my nightmares had become a reality? What if all the times he told me that it was going to be alright, that my worst nightmares weren't true, that he was going to stay with me forever...what if they were all lies? Lies that he didn't have a clue he was telling?

I had to try with every muscle in my body not to run off from Emmett and try to find my Jacob. But tears were trying to pool in my eyes, tears caused by not knowing. Not having even the slightest clue.

I slid to the ground, resting up against a tree, though not completely relaxed, of course. So, without anything for me to do but wait, I continued to watch a very real version of Hell unfold before me.

* * *

Fire. Everywhere. A mix of red, orange, yellow, and blue flashing around me in the early-morning-dusk, sending up clouds and clouds of billowing purple smoke.

The fight was finally over, but the hellish scene had not yet dispersed. Standing up slowly, I walked over to my father, who was going around, setting fire to the dismembered corpses. He saw me coming and stopped, trying to act as though the killing of all these vampires, his own kind, didn't bother him. But somehow, I knew it did.

"Dad, where's Mom and...and Jacob?" I asked tentatively.

"Ness, don't worry. They're both fine. Jacob got a few cuts and bruises, but they'll heal quickly. There...there was really only one casualty on our side. A very serious casualty," he said quietly.

I was more than relieved to know that my mother and Jacob were fine, but when I heard my dad say the last part, my heart froze again, and my head rushed.

_No, no, no, no, no..._ my mind chanted, wanting this whole situation to just be a dream. But this time, I knew for sure that it wasn't.

"Who?" I croaked.

"I think you knew him more than any of the rest of us did, so it may mean more to you than most. He was one of Jacob's pack, Collin. One of the vampires bit him and... Well, Carlisle tried to save him... I'm sorry, Nessie," he said to me gently.

He's right; I did know Collin more than anyone else in my family did. Whenever I'd gone to La Push with Jacob, he was there, alive as ever, talking to me and making me laugh. Though I didn't know him extremely well, as well as some of the other wolves, I would miss him a lot. But part of me, the selfish part, was glad that it was him and not my Jacob.

Swallowing, I spoke to Edward again. "It's okay, Dad. You couldn't do anything about it."

He come up to me and gave me a hug anyway. "I'm sorry that happened. You shouldn't have had to see any of that, not you. I'm sorry, Sweetie," he apologized, holding me tighter.

Tears were again threatening to escape, just because of the shock of it all. And still, I didn't know the reason behind any of this.

"Dad, where's Jacob?" I questioned lowly.

"He went down by the river. He was alone, I think. But be back home soon," he informed me, a bit put out.

"Alright. I'll be there, if you need me," I told him, and ran off into the woods in search of Jacob.

The river was about a mile from where our house use to stand—having been burnt down by the monsters—deep in the forest. It was a pretty, clear river, swimming with life, which was a relief to see after what had happened. There were many boulders at the bank, which could be made into natural benches and whatnot.

I found Jacob sitting on one of the rocks, staring further than the width of the river, out to the trees beyond. He heard me coming, I'm sure, but he didn't make any movement at all.

I sat down next to him. "Jacob?" I asked quietly. His face was blank, his eyes almost unseeing. "Jake, please, talk to me." Still, no reply. I sighed. "Jake, I'm really sorry about Collin. But please, don't ignore me," I begged.

He let out a breath and hung his head. "I'm not trying to ignore you, Ness. Really, I'm not. I just...I don't know. I'm just confused. And...and I...we might..." He sighed again. "We might have to leave, Ness," he said softly, avoiding my eyes as much as possible.

"Okay. I'll leave. It won't bother me. Where are we going?" I said, confused at his bashfulness.

He closed his eyes and swallowed, shaking his head. "No, Ness. You don't understand..."

All of the sudden, the reality of what he said hit me, realization seeming to slap me in the face. The meaning of the 'we' he implied...he wasn't talking about my family and _me_...he was talking about his pack and _him_. Not me.

_Not me._

I swear I was about to start hyperventilating. "B-but Jacob...you-you can't...you can't, please, please don't leave me...I...I need you, please..." I gasped.

His jaw tensed, and, shaking his head slowly, he whispered, "I'm sorry..."

His voice made me sure that this was no joke, it confirmed my worst fear. It made my worst nightmare into reality.

Jacob, _my Jacob_, was leaving me.

"But...but why, Jacob, why?" I pled to know the truth.

"Not all of the vampires that attacked are dead yet. Some of them got away," he said simply.

"Why does that mean that you can't stay here?" I inquired, my mind jumbled.

"Because it's not you and your family that they want. It's us, the wolves. And we can't stay here and put you and your family and everyone else around here in danger," he explained.

"But Jake, if you go, then there'll be less people to fight them... How will that keep anyone safer?" I tried to reason. Anything to keep him here with me.

"They won't come after anyone here if we're away. It will be safer for you," he said sincerely.

"So, you're willing to risk you and your pack's lives to keep mine out of danger? If you do that, I'll feel selfish and, well, just plain horrible," I told him.

He sighed. "Renesmee, you are the most important thing in my life. You are all that I have. If I lose you, my life is lost regardless. I _cannot_ lose you, do you understand?" he questioned of me, his tone assertive but passionate all at the same time.

"But Jacob," I blubbered, tears starting to flow down my cheeks.

"Ness, please, please don't cry, please," he begged, a concerned expression painted on his face.

"Then don't leave me," I bawled, pleading. "_Please._"

He shut his eyes tight, his jaw even more tensed than before.

"Please, Jacob... Don't..."

When he opened his eyes, they were a smoldering liquid brown, hiding the tears that were lurking in their depths.

"I have to Nessie," he whispered, and his voice made my heart break.

I knew that at this point, nothing that I said would keep him here. I knew that he was only thinking about my safety, but I needed him to stay here.

I looked out above the trees, where there was a slight orange glow highlighting the trees; dawn. I sighed and stood up, walking toward the water, looking into its reflection. A tear fell into the water, making it ripple slightly. Then I turned away, toward Jacob, who had come to stand behind me. He pulled me against his chest, hugging me tightly against him, kissing the top of my head. I wrapped my arms around him, wanting never to let him go, because I know what the consequence of that would be.

"_Please,_" I whispered against his chest, my last resort, my final stand to try and make him stay with me, like he was going to before our lives changed drastically.

He released me enough to see my face, putting his hands on my shoulders. Then he leaned in and kissed my forehead, his lips lingering there. He moved his lips down to mine, kissing them softly at first, then more and more passionately, more fiercely. I kissed him back even more intimately, never wanting to stop. But after a couple minutes, he reluctantly pulled away from me, resting his hands on my shoulders, sliding them down my arms, and finally, letting them drop. Then, he took a small step away from me, and my heart broke a little more.

"I'll be back. I promise, Ness. I will," he pledged to me, his mahogany eyes burning into mine, providing whatever truth they could. "But I have to go."

"Now? Right now?"

He sighed and nodded. "The rest of the pack is already waiting for me. I'm so, _so_ sorry," he apologized, his eyes looking tortured.

Tears were streaming down my face like waterfalls, blurring my vision. "When will you be back?" I croaked.

"I don't know."

I tried not to let his answer make even more tears start cascading down my cheeks.

"Nessie?" he called.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he whispered, looking into my tear-soaked eyes, seeming to see into my soul.

I smiled a little. "I love you too," I replied.

He leaned in and quickly touched my lips to his once more, but then leaned back away. "Goodbye."

One word. One word was all it took to break my heart into a million tiny pieces.

I didn't even try to stop the water coming from my eyes this time; it wouldn't have been even remotely possible.

"Goodbye, Jacob," I breathed, my voice broken.

With that, he slowly turned and started walking.

It was as if my life was walking away from me, my soul was leaving me. My heart broke, and I knew that it would never be whole again, not after this. It just wasn't even a possibility. But besides all of this, I still loved him, and I knew that he still loved me.

Another tear cascaded down my cheek as I watched my love, my life, _my_ _whole entire reason for existing_, walk away from me.


End file.
